In the Wind
by polysgirl
Summary: A new girl starts work at the bonds office and has a connection to an FTA... And Ranger. Steph is trying to figure out what she wants in life, as they all follow meagre evidence to find a dangerous skip. A unique approach. Steph learns to fly...
1. Chapter 1

Ok... so I don't often do the fanfic thing... mostly my own original work. So I'm having a hard time keeping totally with the character,s but hoping to improve.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own, nor hold any claim to, the characters, Trenton, etc. They fully belong to Janet evanovich... EXCEPT for Windy and any/all horses. Those are entirely mine and I'm not sharing:) :)

There are some things a girl needs to do, and some things she really should not do but cannoth elp herself. Probably sitting across the table from Ranger at Pino's, despite the fact that I'm practically engaged to Morelli - at least for today - falls into the latter category.

"So." Ranger said. Ranger is a man of many words. Usually monosyllabic.

"So."

"You wanted to talk?"

Probably I should kick his smartass self in the knee underneath the table, but I have a rather large problem right now, so I settled with a simple "Yeah."

I work for Vincent Plum Bail Bond Agency catching scum who've gone FTA. That means, too scummy to bother appearing for their court date. Sometimes Ranger takes cases, but only high profile. Basically, that means when I'm in over my head. Admittedly, that's 99 of the time (only exception: Mooner. He's easy). Unfortunately, Ranger was in the wind - well, Miami visiting Julie - when a very high profile case went FTA, and so I, BEA-disaster extra-ordinaire and Ranger's comic relief, got in over my head. Again.

"Johnny Carson." I said. Ranger quirked a brow. "Rape, torture, mutilation, murder."

"Can't believe Vinnie bonded him out."

"Yeah." I said. I figured maybe Vinnie did it so that I'd wind up dead, but then he'd have no one to catch his skips and he'd go bankrupt, so that didn't really make financial sense.

"So you're after him."

"Yep."

"What do you know?"

"Nothing. He works the racetrack. I can't get to the racetrack. Security is tighter than at Rangeman."

"Expensive horses, babe."

"No Shit. I found a reference to someone named Windy, but can't find her, or anything about her."

"Wendy have a last name?"

"Ranger have a last name?" I asked sarcastically.

"Babe."

"Yeah Yeah, no last name. No real name that I can find. She's, like..." I paused, searching for the word. Unable to come up with the one I wanted, I finally settled for "you."

Ranger quirked a brow. "Wendy's a real name." Again. I'm thinking he could use a good kick. The man's sense of humor has really bad timing.

"WINDY. She suits her name. She is the wind. No name, no records, no history. And nobody in Carson's neighbourhood knows her." I took another bite of pizza.

"Carson?"

"MIA but he's been said to still be training the horses."

"Maybe from a distance."

"Maybe."

"Anyone in contact with him is suspect. I'll help you."

"Appreciate it. I don't care to be mangled Carson soup."

"Babe." Ranger had his "don't even joke about that" face on. Oh well, at least he was willing to help. Probably he'd rather I be out of the Carson-picture unequivocally, letting him take over, but now my curious bone is completely involved.

We continued to eat in relative silence, when a fairly rowdy crowd banged through the door. Friday night at Pino's, hurrah. Thankfully, Morelli was not part of it. Also interestingly was the fact that I noticed a face I recognized from my attempts to get in at the racetrack. Instantly, I was on curious alert. Ranger eyed me. The group sat down at a table a couple across from us, and proceeded to chat up a storm.

Ranger and I listened for a while. "Win party." he commented quietly. I looked at him, wondering what on earth that was supposed to mean. "Means that barn's horse probably won one of the bigger stakes races this evening." Yep, ESP-man did it again.

We listened for a while longer, and I noticed that one woman, a short, tiny woman with a pretty face and straight hair that hung past her shoulders kept looking over at us, an expression of mild confusion on her face. She was eyeing Ranger, but I supposed I could let it go as she seemed to not be eyeing him in lust.

"That woman over there looks like she knows you." I commented to Ranger.

"Don't know her."

A middle-aged man, he looked to be about 40 or 45, ordered everyone a round of drinks. The only one who refused was the woman. She was quieter than the rest, milder in demeanor.

"Ah, C'mon. Celebrate with us. You're half the reason Terminator won."

"And I'm the half that has to do more tomorrow morning than stand at the gap and bark orders." The woman retorted, sending the group into laughter.

"Touche." The man laughed. Their food came and they ate, Ranger and I still sitting in silence. Ranger had eaten a couple slices of Pizza. Ranger didn't eat more garbage than that. I was finishing the pizza off as we listened. I kept my eye on the woman, watched her, as she continued to dart glances Ranger's way. She ate a couple of slices, picked half the stuff off them and ignored the crust, and hung around, mostly silent but obviously relatively content.

"Hey, Windy, how's that arm holding up?" i started suddenly. THAT was Windy? I looked at Ranger, wide-eyed. He stepped on my foot, warning me to stay seated.

"It's holding."

"Woman of few words, just like you." I quirked my own brow at Ranger, who looked at me like I was mad. "What? She keeps looking over at you, as if she knows you, she has your ability to hide herself, your eating habits..." I looked pointed at Ranger's plate. Well, ok, he'd eaten the first crust.

I was just getting up to go confront her - not just because she was Windy, and I'd been looking for her, but also because she obviously knew Ranger, or thought she did, and Ranger wasn't forthcoming with information - not that Ranger ever is - so I wanted to find out the scoop from her. Yep, nosy. But before I could, my best friend Mary Lou stopped by my table and just HAD to chat.

Then, when I turned to get up again, Ranger stilled me with one hand. The woman called Windy was just getting up and leaving. Claiming that morning was coming too soon, or something, she took turns around the table and headed to leave. Just as she was heading out, some of the Newark men came in, the rough and tumble guys who never really grew into good citizens. The ones who didn't turn out as well as Ranger.

"Well Well" One of them sneered. "If it isn't little Emily Halloran all grown up."

Ranger's body tensed instantly.

The woman kept going, and the guy grabbed her arm and turned her back. "Emily Emily Emily. Thought you'd disappeared, if you know what I mean." There was menace in that tone. I looked at Ranger worriedly. No need for my only lead to be offed before I could even talk to her, right?

The woman, face impassive, twisted her arm away from the guy. "You must be mistaken. I do not know anyone by the name of Emily." She turned and walked out the door. The guys headed to a table, joking raucously about what they wanted to do to the "babe" who wasn't Emily.

Ranger dragged me up from the table, dropped a twenty to cover the pizza - and then some, and hauled ass out of the building.

"You know an Emily Halloran." I commented, as we reached my car.

"Yes."

I waited. Surely he'd tell me more? Nope, apparently not. Ranger doesn't know the meaning of the word share.

"Who is she?"

"I don't know who that woman is. Slight resemblance to Emily, but obviously not. Emily was someone I grew up with. Someone I protected. Have not seen her since she was twelve."

"How old were you?"

"Fourteen. Last time I saw her was about five minutes before being arrested for stealing the car."

I could tell by Ranger's tone that that was the end of the discussion, so I squeezed his hand and got ready to get into my car. Before I could, he yanked me to him and kissed me - no tongue out of deference to the almost-engagement and our public location - and pushed me down into the seat. "We'll go down to the track tomorrow. Track down that woman. Talk to her about Carson."

"Maybe she is Emily." I suggested hopefully.

"Doubtful." Ranger replied, shutting the door. I detected a slightly wistful tone to his voice. He must have cared for her a great deal, I thought, as I drove out of the parking lot and headed back to my apartment. When I got home, I noticed Ranger's porsche hanging back. Obviously he was still into making sure I made it into my apartment in one piece. I locked the little Neon I was driving, and then turned to wave at the porsche as I entered the building. It peeled off and I tiredly headed upstairs. Mrs. Bestler wasn't in the elevator tonight, so it was a silent ride up to my apartment. The apartment was silent too. My only full-time Roomate is Rex, my hamster. Occasionally we share with Morelli and Bob. Occasionally I go visit Morelli and Bob at their own digs, a nice little house on the edge of the Burg. I checked my messages - only one from Morelli saying he was working late and wouldn't be able to stop by - and dropped a nut in Rex's cage before heading off to bed. Early morning was coming entirely too soon.

I awakened to the sound of my phone. I was momentarily tempted to ignore it, but better judgement prevailed. Didn't need Morelli or Ranger busting over here thinking I wa dead, or something. Groping blindly for the phone, I mumbled a sleepy, and marginally grumpy, hello.

"Babe."

"It's the middle of the NIGHT." I whined.

Ranger chuckled. "I have to head out of town for a few days again. Don't investigate Carson without me. We'll go to the track when I get back."

"Don't investigate at all?" Oooh, Vinnie's gonna be mad...

"Keep your ears and eyes open. You can use Rangeman's computers to run checks. Do some preliminary sleuthing but do not go out investigating until i get back. I'll phone Vinnie in the morning and apprise him."

"Where're you going?"

"Boston. Flight leaves in 20."

"Problems at Rangeman?"

Ranger was silent. I took that as a yes.

"Be safe." I told him.

"You too babe." The phone disconnected. I tried to go back to sleep but found I couldn't, so grumbling I got up, made coffee, and staggered into the shower. I'm sure somewhere, Ranger's feeling inordinately pleased with himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Again... Character's aren't mine. except Windy - she's mine all mine. As for Ranger...I sure wish he was mine..;) But he isn't. Sadly.

Still trying to get them in character. Is Not. Working. sigh

By noon I had managed to capture and transport two FTA's, making a great morning! I parked the neon outside the office, and headed in, doughnuts in hand. "I'm on today!" I informed the girls, handing Connie both - TWO! - body receipts.

"You go girl!" Lula cheered. She was lounging on the couch eating a cheeseburger and supersize Fries. Lula herself was Supersize. Everything about Lula was supersize, except her clothes. Today Lula was squished into a bright pink spandex tank top, and a sun-yellow miniskirt to match. And they looked like they were originally about a size 10.

"Making headway on the filing?" I asked her, knowing full well she probably hadn't touched it yet.

"You betcha. I'm filing this here Mickey-D's supermeal between S and I." she shoved another bite of burger in her mouth. I must have looked confused because, after swallowing, Lula added "Stomach and Intestine."

"TMI. We don't need to know!" Connie exlaimed. I agreed, and grabbed a doughnut to to "file away."

"Besides, the way I figure it, the new girl can do the filing, and i can be Steph's partner."

"The new girl is going to do computer searches and follow Steph to learn captures." Connie stated, digging through some papers on her desk.

"Well, I think the new girl should get the filing and I should get to learn computer searches and be Steph's partner on account of I've been here longer."

"The new girl goes with Stephanie on account of I said so! Sheesh." Vinnie yelled from his office, before the door slammed. I rolled my eyes.

"The new girl goes with Stephanie on account of we don't need Vinnie scaring her off so she quits." Connie's voice was final.

Lula nodded slowly. "That makes sense."

"Guys? Stephanie's out of the loop. WHO is the new girl and when was she hired?" I managed to get a word in edgewise and took full opportunity to do so.

"Hired yesterday. Nice girl. Should be here soon. She can't work mornings so will be in around 1 every day and work for a few hours." Connie filled me in. "Names-"

Connie was interrupted by the bell that signified the opening of the door. I turned my head to see none other than my one measly lead in the Carson case walk through our door.

"Ah" Connie stood. "Stephanie, this is Windy, our new employee. Windy - Stephanie. She's the Bonds Enforcement Agent you'll be shadowing to learn about apprehension."

We shook hands. "I think we'll be teaching you how NOT to apprehend. On account of Stephanie and I aren't very good." Lula stated, shoving in and offering her own hand to Windy. Up close, the woman looked to be close to my age, and she was absolutely gorgeous, with gold-accented brown hair that hung straight and wispy down her back. She was no more than 5'5 and looked...almost anorexic. There was a strength in her handshake that signified otherwise, though. I got the instant impression that she was strong. Strong like Ranger. And her eyes held secrets. Her eyes were like Rangers.

"Hiya." I said, before turning to Connie. "What's in today?"

Connie shuffled papers..."Lets see... Dougie and Mooner - guess they were caught passed out naked in a public park. Martin Anderson - got caught with Crystal Meth, claimed it wasn't his. And Esther Peterson. She's an old lady who clubbed her bank manager over the head with a heavy handbag when he tried to explain to her that her debit card wasn't working because she had no money in her account. And Carson's still FTA and Vinnie is PISSED on account of a conversation with Ranger this morning." No surprise there, even Vinnie won't cross Ranger.

"Alright. Well, Windy and I'll go for Dougie and Mooner, then Esther - Grandma probably knows her too, and then we'll see about Anderson." I quickly formulated a gameplan and then gestured to Windy. Together, we headed our of the office. I grabbed another doughnut on the way out. Windy refused one, so I took two. Hey, if she's not going to eat it, I'll eat it myself.

We headed towards Dougie and Mooner's house, a route I know by heart. Windy sat silent in the passenger side of my Neon, a gun on her hip - Connie provided it - and an expression on her face that once again reminded me startingly of Ranger.

"So...what made you decide to take up Bond Enforcement?"

"Nothing special. Saw the ad, needed some extra cash, need flexible hours." Windy shrugged.

"Why flexible hours?"

"I have other obligations as well."

Ok... so she isn't going to be forthcoming on what those obligations are. Could they be related to Carson? I would bet that probably, they were. "Every morning?"

"Yep."

"You know how to shoot a gun?"

"Yeah."

Ok, this was like talking to Ranger, too. Frustrating and pointless. I contemplating asking her about Carson but decided not to. We drove in silence for a little while, but I was finding it uncomfortable. So I tried again. Hey, I'm nothing if not persistent, right?

"Saw you last night at Pino's, actually."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I was with another partner. His name is Ranger and he is Bad-ass bounty hunter numero uno. Actually, you were looking at him last night."

"Oh. Him."

"You know him already?" Ok, so I was nosy.

"He looked vaguely familiar. Can't place him though. I meet a lot of people...so who knows why he looks familiar."

Wow. Real sentences. I considered telling her about Ranger's recognition of the Emily name...but thought that maybe it was too soon for that. So I settled for more comfortable territory. "Ranger and I are investigating an fTA together. His name is John Carson. Maybe you could help us?"

Windy was silent for a moment, as I pulled up to Mooner's apartment building. "Yeah." she finally said. "I could. But I need to stay in the background."

"You know Carson." I stated.

"I don't know where he is, if that's what you're getting at." she looked at me, face impassive, as she unbuckled.

I reached out and put a hand on her arm. "But you know something?"

There was a long pause - probably Windy was weighing her words. She was street-smart. This would work well for her on the job, but maybe not for us finding Carson. "I know Johnny indirectly. He's a bad horsetrainer and a bad person. Be careful tracking him. What's the story on these two?"

"Repeat cases. Forget their court dates. Get arrested for strange stuff, usually indecent exposure of some sort. They smoke pot and watch Star Trek and always come peacefully after our pre-requesite visit and TV watching." I got out of the car and beeped the doors locked. Windy and I walked shoulder to shoulder to the apartment doors. Hm...I think maybe we look rather professional!

"Dudette!" Mooner exlaimed, opening the door for us. He grabbed each of us by an arm and pulled us into the apartment. It smelled faintly of stale pot and beer. "Come, Come - we're watching 3rd Rock from the Sun. It's great." We squished onto the couch with Mooner and Dougie and settled in for the show. Two shows, to be exact - it was a back-to-backer. Windy looked vaguely uncomfortable but followed along. For a while, we watched in silence. Mooner and Dougie were paid rapt attention to the television until both shows were over.

"Man..Dudettes.. Isn't that cool, aliens pretending to be people." Dougie popped the cap off of a beer.

"Hey, maybe WE'RE aliens too. But maybe we don't know it yet." Mooner enthralled himself with his own idea. I rolled my eyes at Windy, then smiled indulgently towards Mooner. "Maybe we're ALL aliens."

"Maybe, but boys, lets get you rescheduled and rebonded so you can get back."

"Yeah. Better hurry Dudettes. Star Trek is on at 5." We filed out of the apartment in an orderly fashion and escorted Mooner and Dougie to the Station, then back home, without issue.

By then it was 4:30 and I was thinking that maybe Esther and Anderson could wait until the next day. I voiced as much to Windy.

"Nah. We could do Esther. She sounds easy enough." So I drove to the burg and parked in front of Esther's house. Generally, it was frowned upon for little old ladies to hit their bank managers over the head with heavy handbags. Especially when the item that made the handbag so heavy was a gun. Probably, Esther knew Grandma Mazur and was taking lessons from her. This was not good. Worse is the fact that gossip in the burg meant my mother probably found out about this before we even parked. And that would mean another lecture about my job, and my prospects, and how I should just settle down, Marry Morelli, and have enough kids to keep me too busy to leave the house.

It should have been easy, but Esther checked her peephole and recognized me. Instead of her opening the door and greeting us, she cracked the door and we were greeted by the barrel of a gun. "You just go away Miss Stephanie. Or I'll have to shoot you. I'm not going to jail."

"Probably, she doesn't have that gun loaded." I told Windy. "Probably she doesn't know how to shoot it." Windy nodded at me and was just taking her hand off the gun when the gun in Esther's hand was fired...into the azalea bush. Leaves flew up, and fluttered down. Probably, I'm wrong as usual. I sighed. Windy raised an eyebrow at me - just like Ranger - and pointed towards the back door. She headed around that way, and moments later I heard the doorbell ring. The gun withdrew from the door and it slammed shut. I heard the chain rattle as she locked it. A few moments later, there were sounds that made it appear that the backdoor was being opened - but only slightly.

"Yes? Can I help you dear?"

"Hi Ma'm" This was Windy "My name is Windy and I'm new to the neighbourhood."

"Are you dear?"

"Yes. And I couldn't help but notice that you have a gun. Is there a need for that kind of protection around here? Is the neighbourhood safe? I am thinking of raising my kids here, so I need a safe neighborhood."

"Oh, the neighbourhood's safe. It's just I had a bounty hunter at my other door a minute ago, and she was trying to harrass me! Can you imagine harassing an old lady like me?"

Yes, I thought from the other side of the house, I could. Old ladies like her harass the world, and turnabout is definitely fair play.

"That's horrible." I heard Windy reply. Just whose side was she on, anyway? "I have a gun too - but I don't know how to use it. Maybe you could give me a lesson?"

"Well now, let's just..."

That was all I heard, before things went awful silent for a minute. Then, Esther shrieked. "Hey! HEY! Unhand me at ONCE." And I heard thumping, then saw Esther running around the side of the house. Oh no. Again. I gave chase, tripped over a stick, and went flying into the trash can, which fell over, causing me to flip over it and into the garbage. Great. Another day for Stephanie Plum. I got up and brushed at my clothes just in time to see Windy, sprinting for all she was worth, and grabbing Esther by the arms, pinning them to her sides and marching her back towards me.

"All in a days work." I said, grabbing the cuffs off my belt and cuffing esther. By the time we got her to the police station we both had migraines from listening to her shrill protests, and we were more than happy to call it quits for the day.

"Just think." I told Windy as I dropped her off at her car at the office. "Every day is a variation of this."

"Never a dull moment, I'd imagine." she quirked her mouth up in a partial smile, waved, and got in her car to head off.

I got back to my apartment and told Rex about my day, and about Windy. I still knew nothing about her - she was secretive and quiet. Her conversation skills rivaled Rangers. Hm... Ranger. And Windy. I headed into the shower, on account of the garbage smell, and continued to ponder windy and Ranger. Their mannerisms were so similar, yet different. She thought he looked familiar. He didn't think he knew her, but...hm...it was a puzzle! After spending an extra-long amount of time in the shower, I checked my messages - 3 from my mother: 2 sounding angry - presumably she heard about Esther - and 1 sounding resigned, asking if I was coming to supper tommorow night. Yeah, sure. And the 4th was from Morelli, telling me again he'd be working late. "Love you." he finished off. I thought maybe it sounded like an afterthought. I looked at the ring on my finger. Pretty sure we're still engaged. With that, I settled in for a date with my television, a blanket, and an eary turn-in.

Windy's POV

It was a long day, for her. These new hours were going to take some getting used to, but on the flip side, it was money - potentially good money - that she could squirrel away and hide, for the day when her body couldn't stand up to the rigors of the job. Then she'd buy a little acreage somewhere, pick up a few track horses in need of new careers, and live a quiet life...maybe run a full-fledged re-homing and retirement farm for all racehorses. She pulled into the trailer park just off the track lands. The little trailer she lived in was far from new, or fancy, but it was clean, and she'd made it a home.

She unlocked the door and headed into the kitchen. The colors were tacky, and the lino old and torn, but she kept it as clean as possible. Dropping her shoulder-bag and unclipping her gun, she turned back and secured the door, then flipped the light switch. Rooting through the fridge she turned up a turkey sandwhich and ate that and an orange... while flipping channels on the television. Nope, nothing interesting tonight. Flipping the lights off as she went by, she padded down the hall and made a right into the bathroom, showered quickly and economically, then took another right into her bedroom, collapsed on her double bed, and flipped the switch to turn on her alarm. 4:30 a.m. came way too early, and she needed as much sleep as possible. She needed to be sharp in the morning. And she would be.


	3. Chapter 3

Alright. So...Again, I own nothing but Windy and the horses...and the rest of the track-brats, I guess - but the trainers are just filler. Kinda.

I haven't decide if this is a babe-fic or a cupcake one ... I'm a babe-girl myself (Ranger...Yum...).. Originally it was going to be a cupcake one and I was going to eventually get something going with windy & Ranger, but Windy's character protested from the start and wanted to BE Ranger instead. sigh so much for that grand plan.

This chapter, and a couple more, take place at the racetrack. Since i don't want horses to take over the story entirely, I'm having my fun with them NOW ... while getting to know Windy (whose conversation skills might rival Ranger's for silence, but who seems quite happy to talk to me..:) ) better and seeing how she fits.

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1 week later...

I woke up with the distinct feeling that I was not alone. Before I could panic, I recognized the presence causing the hairs to stand up on the back of my neck. I rolled over and glared. "Couldn't you at least wait until a decent hour of the morning?"

"Babe."

"What now? And when'd you get back?"

"Last night. And now, to the racetrack. I want to see what we can find out about Carson."

"Take Windy. She's...I don't know where she lives ,but I have her cell number. She knows Carson, indirectly, and she's the new girl, go wake HER up." I flopped over and drew the covers over my head.

"Windy? The girl from Pinos?"

"Yeah. She showed up the next day at Vinnie's. Great, Hurrah, Hurray. She's probably a dead end to Carson. I didn't push it. Now go antagonize her. You're lucky Morelli isn't here." I added as an afterthought, burrowing deeper under the blankets. Morelli had been here the last 3 nights, and I was sleep deprived because of it.

"Maybe she's already up." Ranger yanked away the blankets and grinned at me - a full 200 watts. I knew he was trying to call ME lazy and make ME jealous, but bed was much more important in the middle of the night.

"Nah. She never shows up at Vinnie's before 1pm. Vinnie gripes about lazy women who don't get out of bed. She doesn't acknowledge it at all." I rolled over again, dismissing ranger, intent on sleeping at least a couple more hours blankets or not. No such luck, Ranger grabbed me by the shoulders and hauled me out of bed.

"I can think of a lot of pleasurable things we could be doing in your bed, if you insist on staying there, but we have to get to the track early."

"Why?"

"I want to watch the workouts."

"Yeah. A bunch of horses running in a circle is so terribly enthralling. And the pattern they run is going to spell where Carson is." I snarled. I think I even showed teeth. "Put me down." Ranger was still holding me plastered up to him. Laughing softly, he slide me down his body and set me on my feet, before turning me and shoving me towards the bathroom.

"We're going to go and listen to the gossip at the gap." he told my retreating back. Well, that sounds promising. But really, it was only 6:00 a.m.

"Workouts start at seven." he called through the bathroom door. "I'll make coffee."

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6:45 a.m. and the track was busier than a beehive. Ridiculous. These people are mutants, I'm sure. Ranger laughed beside me. Damned ESP. We got to the entry gate and I fully expected that we'd be turned away, as I had been the last time I was here. Instead, Ranger leaned over the counter and addressed the security guard. "Manoso and Plum. Tim Bergmen was supposed to sign us in." The guard checked his list and passed the clipboard over to us to each sign by our names. He handed us cardboard passes and buzzed the gates open.

"That was easy." I noted.

"Called in a favor."

Conversation then stopped as we walked towards the track. Trainers were standing around at the gap. Also standing at the gap, back to us, was a ponytail I vaguely recognized...I studied her for a minute, frowning.

Ranger leaned in towards my ear. "Don't bust a brain vessel." he teased, whispering. I turned and glared at him. we headed towards a bench near enough to the gap to overhear anything said, but far enough in the shadows to be out of reach.

"So...What's the new girl like?" Ranger asked quietly.

"Meek. But she can be tough if she needs to be. Hurt her arm yesterday but still showed up. I didn't think she'd last a day, but she seems to be luckier than me at staying out of garbage. She's intuitive. " I stuck with the short answer as I watched the guys at the gap. The woman was pretty well silent, listening to the tall man on her left. I knew her...and I couldn't put my finger on it.

"She got what it takes?"

"Yeah.. Maybe. Like I said - she seems meek, but then turns tough when you'd think she'd turn tail and-" I gasped. "It's her."

"Babe?"

"Windy. That's her. The girl in the ponytail."

Ranger looked at me, his face going expressionless, then looked towards her. "Interesting."

"I don't think she's involved in anything bad. She seems honest and good hearted. She's nice." I said quickly. I didn't want him thinking she was a suspect.

"She tell you she work here?"

"Yeah Right. She tells me NOTHING. She's like you. The woman of mystery. She even talks like you. Monosyllables. Hell, she even EATS like you. It's scary. The only difference is skin color. And gender." Ranger's mocha-latte skin gleamed on contrast to Windy's translucent white.

Ranger narrowed his eyes, and we lapsed into silence, intent on the conversations going on at the entrance to the track. The first horses were being led over by their grooms.

"You ready, Wind?" The man to the left of Windy asked, turning towards her.

"As I'll ever be." she answered, raising her arm and placing the helmet in her hand on her head. She snapped the chinstrap in one firm movement, securing the hat on her head. A groom led a tall prancing chestnut over to her. "You're full of yourself this morning." she said affectionately, then was deftly boosted into the saddle by the man, who held the horses reins for a minute telling her something we couldn't hear, and she rode out onto the track, immediately pushing the horse into a brisk trot.

I looked at Ranger, eyes wide. "She's a RIDER." A raised eyebrow was his only response.

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Windy's POV.

Danny danced onto the track, and she sat quietly, secure in the saddle, letting him bounce around a bit. He was fresh in the morning, and her favorite to work first. Despite his frisky attitude, he was relatively safe and a good horse to warm up on. Plus she enjoyed the beginnings of the morning, when there were fewer riders on the track, the sun was rising over the horizon. It was surreal to be out on the track in the early hours, the galloping stacato of the horses hooves reverberating on the brisk morning air. Peaceful. That was the word to describe it.

"Hey Wind!" Angie, another gallop-girl, called to her. "STAY!"

She trotted up to Angie, and they spoke together, a mantra they used every morning. "STAY - On your toes - On their backs - Stay safe. May the horses behave, their footing not fail them, and all come out sound at the end of the day." and then they broke off with greetings of luck and focused on their own rides. It was a morning ritual, one that brought comfort and a sense of kinship for the difficulties they may encounter.

She always started slow with Danny, trotting until he was done farting around and moving fluidly, so his muscles and joints could warm up. Some trainers trained hard, but Jake preferred seeing his horses train softer. Less strain on their joints, and then they last longer. It took longer to get them to the races, but in the long run... She liked riding for Jake. He was the second best trainer at the track, and ran a good barn. And of course, the horses were just terrific. Halfway around the mile track, she stood in the irons and asked him to move into a canter. Kicking out one hip in exhuberance, he moved off easily. He was stakes material, she could feel it in the ease of his stride. They finished their first loop, she rode him straight past the gap and didn't let him duck out, and she crouched further down over his neck, angled him towards the inside rail, and sent him forward into an easy gallop. Every stride was cadenced perfection. She sank down, absorbing his movement in her ankles and legs, merging with the horse, blending, until she forgot where he ended and she began. And as the reached the halfmile pole for a second time, she sent him off again, and he lengthened his stride, and lengthened his stride, and lengthened some more, until the rail was a blur and they were floating down the track. Her breathing automatically adjusted to the tempo of his hoofbeats, and the sound filled her senses bringing a peace that she never felt at any other time. His muscles bunched beneath her, contracting and releasing with every stride. Subconsciously she adjusted, molding to him, moving with him. She marvelled, as she did every morning, at the feeling of raw power beneath her. She loved this.

"Oh no you don't." she corrected, tightening her fingers on her outside rein while opening the inside - moving her hand off his neck just slightly, and tapping him twice with her outside leg. He always went for the gap, unless he was really moving. That was Danny for you. She allowed him to lengthen out a bit more, and he started to fight her for more rein. He wanted it this morning. He always wanted it. They were still moving easily along - he had much, much more to give, but she didn't want it all yet. She didn't want it all at all that day. She argued with him briefly, a gentle tug-release pressure on the reins, and drove him forward into the bridle. He really bore down into the bit, just begging for a run. They rounded the half mile pole, and continued on. His hoofbeats sounded against the track - it was a good track this morning - and his whole body begged for freedom. "Just a minute, you. I'll give you what you want." He was pulling through her arms, into her shoulders, and the collarbone she re-broke yesterday on a bad horse protested, but she barely felt it. They rounded the 1/2 mile pole and she gave him what he wanted, allowing him to lengthen, and lengthen, and lengthen. They rounded the turn and he swapped leads, dropping underneath her and kicking into higher gear. He swapped again, and again, kicking it up a gear each time. Windy crouched lower, hands planted on his neck, checked his pace and settled him, then let him sweep the stretch. They passed the gap. He didn't even look at it at that speed. She wished she didn't have to stop - she would gladly allow another round, but his workout was done and she had 26 more to go. Nevermind that his legs didn't need the strain of another mile, whether he or she wanted it or not. Reluctantly, she stood in the stirrups and began to ask him to slow up... This was the tough part with a broken collar bone. she only had full use of one arm, which off-balanced the pull and allowed him to fight it more. He was a good horse, though, and a gentle tug release got him slowed to a trot. She turned him and trotted him briskly back to the gap, giving him a couple of hearty pats on the neck.

"How'd he feel?" Jake asked.

"Terrific. He oughta work soon." Windy vaulted nimbly from his back and gave him another pat, then rubbed his forehead as the groom came to collect him.

"I'll slate him in for later this week. Lexi's up."

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"Wow. That looks..." I trailed off, watching Windy and the horse gallop. Wow. They were flying. Wonder Woman always wanted to fly. I wonder if I could learn how to do that.

"Looks what, babe?"

I thought about it for a minute. I couldn't find the right word. Amazing? Awe-inspiring? Incredible? I finally settled with "Exhilerating." And maybe, if I did that, I could be Wonder Woman for real...I think I might have drooled at the thought.

"Babe." I was amusing Ranger again. Greeaattt.. I glared at him and we settled back, watching riders get on, ride around the track, and get off. So far, no mention of Carson. I started to doze...I guess sleep was my zone.

A little while later, Ranger nudged me with his elbow. I looked up, and there was a group of people with green jackets that said "Gate Crew" heading towards the track. "Works are starting." he told me.

"Isn't that what we were watching?"

"You were sleeping." I was amusing him again... "I was watching workouts. Now it's works. Not all of the horses will work, but now is when they start to bring out the ones that work out of the gate for a timed ride."

"You know a lot about this."

"Research. If you want to talk to someone who knows a lot, you'll talk to Windy. I just know the basics."

The conversation ended there as we picked up a snippet mentioning "Johnny." Ranger shook his head slightly at me, I guess that meant stay put, and we turned all our attention to listening.

"...Work him a half mile, and make it fast."

"He ready for that?"

"It's not your job to analyse this. It's your job to get on and ride. Johnny says work him, he works. Either get on or find another job." The man growled. He looked like a toad with a smushed in nose and beady little eyes. Not someone I would trust in a dark alley.

"He's scary." I told Ranger. He didn't answer. The rider, a young girl who looked the worse for the wear, sighed and snapped her helmet on before being boosted aboard. The horse danced onto the track bouncing and kicking his back legs out. She flopped around some, looking like she was struggling to stay with the horse. She didn't have the grace Windy has. Most of the riders were men...there was only maybe eight women out of the 35 or so riders hanging around the track.

"You starting to admire Windy?" Damned ESP.

"She looks good."

"She is good."

We lapsed back to silence. There was no more mention of Carson, but frog-man had gotten out a cell phone and was talking on it. I looked at Ranger and he nodded - we were both thinking the same thing. Probably, he's talking to Carson. Ranger paid attention to Frog-man, but I was more curious about Windy so I shifted my focus to her conversation with the tall man again. They were walking towards us - the coffee machine was slightly behind us. Windy hadn't noticed us, thankfully...too focused on her job.

"..Think we'll keep an exercise ride in between each workout for you, as much as possible. We're working Terminator, Loosy, Jinx, Style, Rosie, Max, Slater, and Spider. We'll do the gatework on the 5 two year olds after works. Rick mentioned you're working Starman today too. And what else do you have outside of my string?"

"I think just Sly."

"Don't know why you bother riding for Marcel, Wind. He's really..."

"And ass, a bad trainer, and he ruins horses. I know. But it's SLY. I love Sly. He's relatively easy, he's a sweetheart, and he's freaking stakes material rotting in that barn. And he hasn't been right in the hind the last couple days...I'm worried about him. I think he's working out of the gate today too..."

"Not right how?"

"I don't know. I can't pin it. I think he's breaking down. I wanted Marcel to get Crawford to look at him but he won't. Said he's stiff, warm him up better. But it's something else...I don't know what..."

"You can refuse to ride him, you know."

"Yes, but..." They were back at the track and out of my earshot for the decibals they were speaking in...which was quietly.

Another horse was lead over, there was raucous laughter about him being called Terminator for a reason, and and a very serious, very firm admonition for Windy to Stay Safe on him. She was boosted on and immediately rode onto the track. She stood up on his back leaned over his neck as he went sideways down the track. It was beautiful to watch, from my perspective. I was starting to think it looked like hard work, though. Ranger grinned at me. I was amusing him yet again.


	4. Chapter 4

again, horsey-girl owns nothing but windy and the critters. Janet's the creative genius who owns the rest...someday, tho, maybe I'll get to sneak into Ranger's bed like goldilocks and own him..no? yeah yeah, I know, get in line...

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Windy's POV

The Terminator felt good this morning. Oh, he was cantering before even getting off the cement, and unless she kept a strong hold of him she could feel he was ready to launch her into the middle of the next stratosphere, but he felt good, sound, together. Fluid. She let him canter sideways for a while, holding him in so he could warm up. He'd straighten out once she let him move off a bit more, she knew. And he did. And he did his warmup lap and a half well, before she reined him in and trotted him down to the gate. They were training new gatecrew...great. She had a high respect for gatecrew and felt that training was more than necessary - to keep the riders safe - but she hated riding horses like Terminator, Loosy, Max, and Starman when the guys on the gate weren't experienced. Good gatehorses weren't an issue...but Max was a chicken, Loosy tended towards completely psychotic, and Terminator and Starman were just plain bad gate horses.

"Guys, this one needs to be in and out in 5 seconds or less. Once he's in, let him out." she told the crew, as they took their places. Hopefully they'd take her seriously. One of the new guys took Terminator by one rein and he blew back. She added leg, gently - never do anything more than gently with The Terminator - and he led in. His whole aura changed from simmering to boiling, and the countdown began. The guy who led them in stood on the pontoons, the back gates were closed, and ... they waited. Oh shit. Fuck. Damn. "Easy T-man. Any second now. She was ready. He was ready, but she could feel him start to vibrate, suck back, and she knew they were in trouble. He reared up as the gates rang open and she threw the reins to his ears, plastering to his neck. In true Terminator style, he went straight over backwards with her, despite her attempt to throw his balance onto his front end.

She lay on the track a minute, even after the horse scrambled to his feet and blew away from a gate crew guy with a grip on his rein, taking a mental assessment of her body. Nope, nothing new seemed to be overy injured. Well, her hip smarted. Slowly, she sat up. Best get up before Jake got running over with his heart in his throat. She climbed to her feet and walked over, limping slightly, to retrieve her horse.

"You ok?" Jake had run over afterall.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Banged my left hip. These assholes don't know the meaning of 5 seconds."

"I'll get Tim out here to help with the gate for him."

"Loosy too."

"All of the bad ones. See if he can't get them more on the ball."

Jake went off to find Tim, and she walked the sting in her hip off, loosening up as she did. Tim came over, gave her a boost onto the horse, and she trotted a circle while they got organized. This time he was in the gate and out instantly, and they were flying down the inside rail at a steady clip. She urged him a bit more forward, and contemplated the benefit of blacklettering the work... No... lets aim for just barely. They took the turn and hit the stretch and she let him go for all he was worth.

He blew past the pole like it wasn't there, and she reined him in slowly before turning and trotting back to the gap. She swung off his back at a walk and grabbed the rein at the bit, then handed him over to his groom.

"Good Recovery."

"I thought so too." she grinned. "Who's next?"

"Marcel came over. He wants Sly to go right away. I said that was fine."

"Works for me. I have a bad feeling about Sly, though..." She trailed off as the groom led Sly over, Marcel following along.

"We're working him 5/8ths and I want it fast." Marcel told her. The groom held the horse, he threw her on his back, and they were off.

Sly was her favorite. He walked - WALKED - onto the track. She picked up a trot and he trotted off calmly - CALMLY... She loved this horse. But there it was, already...that slight hitch in his left hind. She warmed him up trot, canter, easy gallop...and as she trotted him back towards the gap, and then the gate, the hitch was still there...if anything, it was more prominent.

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We watched as Windy rode back to the gate. "He's off." I heard her holler, literally holler, to the trainer - a different man than the one she'd been riding for all morning.

"He's fine. Work him."

"There's something wrong with his hind. I don't think it's advisable to work him today."

"He looks fine. If you don't want to ride him, get off and i'll put someone else on."

I looked at Ranger... "Do you think he's fine? Or do you think she's right?"

"I think I know nothing about horses, but I would imagine if she feels something, something is there."

"She looks worried." I watched as she rode the horse back onto the track.

"We're looking for information on Carson, not analysing Windy's rides."

"We've heard nothing useful about Carson except that frog-face is always on the phone with him and is an asshole himself."

Ranger grinned at me. "So we talk to frog-face after the track closes."

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Windy's POV

She trotted him back towards the starting gate. Every nerve in her body screamed that this was the wrong choice... but what did it matter if it was her on him or someone else? Sly would try his heart out no matter what, but at least she could maintain some control over the situation if she was on him. She wished he was still in Rick's barn, Rick may be an asshole as well, but he was the best trainer at the track and at the very least, he would have listened to her if she felt something abnormal in the horse. With a nod to gatecrew, she sat poised over his neck as he was loaded, they waited... and the gates clanged open.

Sly broke out of the gate like a star, dropping from underneath her in a leap onto the track. She checked him, holding him in, trying to keep him quiet, steady, and a bit slower than a normal work. He was forward and eager, though, and the warning bells faded as they covered the ground in a fluid stride. She let him open up, saving a gear or two for the final stretch. They were making good time. She could feel his eagerness as they rounded the first turn, and, and then they were rounding the second and she gave him what he wanted. He surged forward, swapping leads and dropping to hug the ground. And then he wobbled, as a tell-tale sound reverberated across the track.

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It sounded like a gunshot, and Ranger was instantly reaching for his gun when I grabbed his arm. The horse Windy was on was careening down the track, as she leaned back. "I think she's trying to stop him."

"I think he's been shot."

The exclamations from the gap were no more positive. But they weren't thinking of guns, I don't think. Clearly, through it all, I heard "fucking leg." Oh great.

We watched as they staggered down the track, Windy slowly succeeding in slowing him down. His one back leg swung uselessly... and then it separated from his body halfway down the leg, and they flipped over the rail and into the infield.

The horse staggered to his feet and stood on three legs. Blood poored down what was left of his hind in a steady stream. The horse staggered a step towards her and almost fell. He put his head down towards her. The trainer named Marcel, and the one she'd ridden for all morning - we'd heard him called Jake - were running across the track. There were snippets of words floating back to us from the gate "...severed at the hock...have to destroy him...hope the rider's ok..." I looked at Ranger, to see if I could tell what he was thinking. Nothing. His face was blank. He put an arm around me and hugged me, quickly, and I realized then that there were tears in my eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

Ok, Ok, I'm sorry about the horse. Actually, Sly is a horse from another thing I am working on - modelled after my own Singapore, whom I lost a little over 2 years ago to a broken front leg. Sly's temperament fit a horse I wanted to portray...not necessarily kill off. Again, my characters got away from me. It allowed further exploration of Windy's character (since she refuses to be who I want her to be) so I think I'm ok with it. Sly Fox Rox will remain alive and well in my other work, tho :)

Once agian, other than Windy, the 4-legged critters, and the track paraphenalia, I neither own nor take credit for the characters and locations. I am borrowing them from the creative genius of Janet Evanovich to suit my own purposes. I wouldn't mind permanently stealing Ranger and chaining him to my bed, but I will restrain myself ;)

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Windy's POV

Slowly, she wiggled body parts, assessing pains, and figuring herself out. Ribs hurt. Breathing hurts. Ok, still functional there. ankle..painful. Legs..Think they're ok. Carefully she sat up, and looked over at Sly. He nickered at her. She stood gingerly and really looked at the horse. Sickened, she bent forward and fought back a sob. He was as good as dead.

"Wind. Take the pony and go back to the gap." Jake's hand, on her shoulder. She shrugged him off and staggered, limped, shit, her ankle was fucked, two steps to the horse. Sly nickered at her again, and she rubbed his forehead, kissed his nose, wrapped her arms around his neck and dissolved into tears. They were brief, as she came to her senses and remembered that she couldn't allow such weakness. Someone brought a halter and she slipped his bridle off herself. Someone, maybe his groom, pulled his tack and wraps. He pressed his head against her stomach, and she burried her face between his ears, in his poll, they stood together, waiting for the vet, waiting for the end.

It was a blur, the vet coming, the realization that he couldn't be moved to the backside, that he'd be euthanized on the spot, the needle, the drug, the horse falling, landing at her feet. She stood and watched, separated from her body, Marcel's ranting background noise, her feet rooted to the ground as the vet assistant checked pulse, lifted head by the ears, removed halter, and dragged a tarp over to cover the body. A hand on her shoulder, Jake's voice in her ear... Concern. She nodded briefly, and turned to walk away, methodically placing one foot in front of the other, mindful of the ankle, head down. She ducked under the inside rail, onto the dirt track, and continued on towards the gap. She stopped at Sly's leg, and stood there for a long moment, staring down at it. Should she pick it up and take it to the horse? Could she handle picking it up? Feeling the building of hysteria, she opted for self-preservation, stepped over the leg, and continued to slowly make her way to the gap, leaving the others to finish cleaning up after it all.

"Wind, you ok?" Jake caught up with her at the gap.

"Fine." Toneless.

"Why don't you take the rest of the day?"

"Loosy needs to work." And unsaid, she needed to ride. She couldn't leave on Sly. It was haunting, painful, and would make coming back the next day all the more difficult.

"Loosy's work can be cancelled."

"Loosy needs to run this weekend - he's ready."

"You sure you're ok to ride?"

"Yeah. Just get me a wrap for my ankle to support it and I'm good to go."

Loosy was led over, ears pinned, trying to take a chunk out of his groom, who knew him well enough to avoid most injury. She had named the horse Loosy - meaning Loose Screw - when she broke him the year prior, and she picked his registered name, Shaking Foundations. It suited him, it could either signify the fact that he was most certainly a few screws short of a secure beam. Or, if he ever gained some sanity and became more predictable and stable, he had the talent to shake the foundations of the stakes world. There was true athleticism in the grey horse being led up to her, and it was the only thing that made him worth working with. Angie walked past and gave her a quick hug before being boosted on her own mount, and Jake walked over to boost Windy up on Loosy.

"Don't get hurt." he demanded, legging her up easily onto his back. The horse instantly reared and she caught her other iron and leaned forward. As soon as his feet hit the ground they were trotting into the track, and off they went. As she warmed him up she had no awareness of anything going on around her but the horse. She couldn't afford to focus on anything but this one. Riding him was like balancing on a string... one wrong shift and everything could come unglued. And with Loosy, when something goes wrong, that's it for the day. He didn't settle back in. Truly, he was psychotic. Borderline psychotic if you wanted to think positive.

His mind was fairly together that morning, but he was still a tough warmup, still skirting on the brink. As she pulled him in and trotted towards the gate, she mentally talked herself through the rest of his ride. Tim was on the gate again for her. That was good, as if Loosy flipped in the gate that would be it for the day. He wouldn't come back to her if she lost him, and she knew it. So did Jake. Tim was ready. Fantastic. One of the regular gate crew guys grabbed Loosy's rein, deftly avoided his teeth, and led him into the gate, climbing on the pontoons as he went. Windy adjusted, the gates flew open and he was off...marginally out of control. And the dance began. Gently she asked him to check his speed, to remain under control. Gently, cautiously, she asked him to check his speed. As always, the edge, the violence and psychosis, simmered just under the surface as he complied, only slightly, just enough to allow her to guide the journey. They blew past the first pole, and the half mile pole, and she started to gently suggest he begin to slow up. It took another half mile to get him reined into a shaky canter, his body coiled tightly, then down to a trot, and then they were at the gap and she was off his back, relief bringing numbness to her limbs. He did not scare her, but she respected the danger of the ride. Still simmering, a force of violence barely contained, Loosy danced away with his groom, the groom not quick enough this time, yelping when the horses teeth sank into his arm.

"We blacklettered that one." she grinned faintly at Jake.

"Phenomenal time for a two year old. I'm going to put him in the stakes on saturday."

"Can't hurt. Who's next?"

"Slater." he said, and then the horse was led over, she was boosted on, and they were out on the track. There was no time to spare. Many more horses to go.

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I watched Windy ride, horse after horse, and started to realize where the name came from. She was the wind, when she was on their backs. There was a part of me that longed to try... but then, there was a part of me that was quite happy to be sitting where I was... Leaning on Ranger's shoulder, listening to gossip and watching...and trying to ignore the tingle going through my hand and up my arm. The tingle was caused by Ranger, who had imprisonned my left hand in his right and wouldn't let it go. He was playing with the promise ring Morelli had given me. A Promise ring, because, said Morelli, we didn't seem to have much luck with the official engagement idea. So he engaged me with a promise ring. I'm not sure I was totally sober when I said yes, but as long as he didn't make me quit my job, I thought that maybe we could try the idea of marriage...and if the idea felt good, we could get married.

Ranger didn't say much when I told him. And he still makes me go hot and wet and mushy. I think that probably, if Ranger weren't so set against relationships, I would have avoided the entanglement of an engagement to Morelli, and maybe see where things went with Ranger, first. But Ranger doesn't do relationships, Ranger said more than once that he doesn't love me that way. Or, rather, he said that he loved me, but made sure I knew that he didn't mean THAT way.

He was listening to the conversation from Carson's barn, to what frog-face was saying. I was listening too, but I was also paying attention to what was going on in Windy's barn. Ranger was pretty well ignoring her, now. We hadn't heard anything especially exciting or helpful, yet. I watched Windy ride horse, after horse, after horse. Some looked relatively easy, and some looked extremely difficult. She bitched to Jake about one named Joker, claiming him worthless. No more accidents thank goodness, although one of the guys got bucked off quite badly and broke his arm. He screamed like a girl. Ranger raised one eyebrow at that, and continued to listen to the conversation in Carson's barn, and play with the ring on my finger.

Jeez. I wish he'd consider a real relationship.

"Babe." Ranger's voice held a strong warning. "Don't go there."

I wondered if what he meant was "don't tempt me" or "don't get clingy."

"A little of both."

Shit. ESP - again. Ok, i'll concentrate my thoughts elsewhere. Hey, that looks like a nice, quiet horse Windy's getting on how. He's big, and he's brown, and he has a different trainer attached to him. Maybe I do want to try this. Maybe Windy would teach me. Wonder Woman could fly for real.

"Babe." Christ - I'm amusing Ranger.

"Would you QUIT listening in on my thoughts?"

"Keep them in your head and I'd be glad to." Ranger tucked a curl behind my ear with his left hand, his right still firmly attached to mine. I sighed. And decided to just watch again, for a while. It was almost 11. We'd been sitting out here for four hours now. And we'd learned nothing. Well, I'd learned about Windy, I guess.

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Windy's POV.

Last horse of the day was Starman, slated for a 5/8ths work. He was cool, but tough in a different way, and quirky, and she enjoyed the challenge he presented. As she warmed him up he pulled like a freight train, demanding more pace. demanding more freedom, demanding his own way. With caution and sensitivity, she checked him repeatedly and asked him, through body and voice, to wait just a bit longer. He tried to run off with her twice. She fought him back down both times. They headed down to the gate, loaded, exploded out, and she let him move.

Starman's main character point was contrariness. That was a problem, as now that he was not only being allowed to move out, but being asked to move out, he conceivably changed his mind and started to suck back. He ignored her leg and urgings, daring her to make him. "Damned beast, Move FORWARD." Without care or attention to the consequences, she reached back and cracked the horse hard on the ass with her whip. Starman exploded.

The horse was athletic, bucking and twisting. It felt like her feet were reaching his ears, as she moved with him, muscles contracting and changing and moving with the horse. He was practically turning himself inside out, rodeo'ing down the track with his head halfway between his front and back legs. Finally, he bucked himself off his feet, hit the track on his side and slid, with Windy still astride him. He staggered to his feet and she spun him to the left a few times, then to the right, then trotted him straight and forward back to the gait. "We go again." she yelled to Rick, and the gate crew, at once. He loaded, the gates opened, and this time she rode him well, properly, never giving him a chance to lose the forward, and they worked the 5/8ths in style. When he was on, he was ON, and the power behind each stride awed her every day. She could feel his muscles move beneath her, they flew down the track, his feet never touched the ground. When she rode horses like this, they were her wings, and it was the best feeling in the world.

All too soon, the pole flashed by them. With an internal sigh, she began the slow process of pulling him up, and headed back to the gate..

"My fault." she told Rick, apologetically. "I know better than to hit this one."

"No harm no foul. It's been a bad day for you. Don't do it again." he replied brusquely, taking the horse and walking away.

"Well Wind, It could have been worse." Jake squeezed her good shoulder, and then they walked off, heading back towards his shedrow, discussing who to wrap and poultice and the rest of the post-workout routine.

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"Well." I said, as we stood. I stretched, and Ranger eyed me with a look of approval. "Like what you see?"

"Don't tempt me, babe." he leaned forward and kissed me, chastely, before taking my arm and leading me in the direction everyone else went - back to the barns.

"So now we go talk to frog-face?"

"Now we go talk to Windy. And find out the best way to approach Frog-face and other associates."

Right. Because Windy would know them, and could help us eliminate people.

"And help us not screw up in approaching them. Track people are funny. You're getting the idea, Babe."

Wish he'd get the idea that I don't like him ESP-ing into my head.

"Sorry Babe, not my fault." Ranger looked amused. AGAIN. I sighed, and marched on, staying a safe distance behind Windy and Jake.


	6. Chapter 6

Nope, don't own em, except Windy & the horses & the track-crap. Wish I had the genius to own them, but I don't. I just borrow them to play with. Ranger... Yum...who wouldn't want to play with Ranger?

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"Loosey needs to be poulticed and wrapped, everyone who worked should be, but Loosey pounded the shit out of his legs. The two year olds should be rubbed down. And I thought Slater felt a touch hesitant on his left front at the end. Nothing major but he should be checked over." Windy told Jake, as they walked into the barn and towards his office-stall in the shedrow. Reaching it, she sank down the wall, flopping onto a bale of hay and leaning forward, head in her hands, elbows on her knees.

"Hey Wind, you don't look so hot." a groom commented as he walked by leading a pretty little chestnut.

"Bad morning. How's her leg?"

"Little heat. Want to check it?"

"I'll come to her stall in a bit." she pulled her pony tail out and ran her fingers through her hair, as it fell and shielded her face from view. She let out a big, shaky sigh, and sat there.

Ranger and I watched the exchange from the entrance to the shedrow, leaning against the first stall, a stall and a half away. After a minute, Windy reached down and started to undo the wrap she had put on her ankle after her fall with the Sly horse, and she bent to examine it, wincing. She pulled her sock off and we could see even from our vantage point that the ankle was swollen and colorful. Jake walked out of the stall beside her and handed her a tensor.

"Wrap it in that." he told her, and she nodded, and did so. Then Jake looked up at us. "Jake Mathews. Can I help you with anything?"

Ranger nodded towards Windy. "We'd like to speak with her when she has a minute."

"Wind." Windy looked up at him, as she finished wrapping her ankle. Jake nodded towards us. She looked at Ranger, and then at me. Her face was pale, but I'm pretty sure it was the stress of the morning, not our appearance.

"So you're stalking me?" she asked me, one eyebrow raised.

"No. Ranger and I came down to the track to listen to gossip and find out about Carson, and I was really quite shocked to see you here." I told her. Probably I should have kept my mouth shut about Carson.

"Stay away from Carson. He's bad news." Jake spoke up from where he was throwing hay into stalls for the horses midday meal. Lucky them got lunch, we didn't yet.

"Whose the frog-faced guy? Training his horses?" I asked.

"Miles Ferrin. Slime. Stay away from him too." Windy answered. She stood up, gingerly, and tested her ankle in the wrap. She seemed satisfied and slipped her foot into the running shoe beside her. Then she started to walk down the aisle, pausing to check horses and stopping in some stalls to run her hands down legs. She stopped at the chestnut's stall and really looked her leg over well. "I think it's getting better." she called out - probably to Jake. She stepped out of the stall and looked back at us.

"Who should we talk to and what can you tell us about them?" Ranger asked.

"He means, what's the best way to approach them." I added. Ranger scowled at me and I wrinkled my nose back. I know - Ever so mature.

"Look, if you're talking to track people, I'll go with you. At least to the people I know won't go back to Carson. The others... you have to be careful. Very careful. We shouldn't discuss him on the backside right now."

"Fair enough." Ranger said. "Join us for lunch?"

"I need to finish up here first. And shower." And probably fix her arm and check ribs and whatever else. I figured she was more hurt than she let on, giving how pale she seemed. I didn't think our presence was unnerving her that badly. And even if it was, it wasn't like Windy to show it. Already, I knew that.

"Fair enough." Ranger said again. We hung around as Windy continued into another stall, lifting a leg and checking a foot.

"Hey Mitch." she called out. "Can you mud Slater and wrap him?"

"You betcha Wind." the groom called from another stall. "Just gotta get Loosy here done."

"Absolutely." And that was the end of that exchange. I noticed that everything was done as efficiently as possible. And that meant few words and small exchanges. Just like Ranger. But maybe it was the lifestyle. Hm... That would explain the health food too, riding like that.

"So how hard is it to gallop the horses?" I asked.

"Depends on the horse. Need Skill, balance. Fitness."

"Could someone...like...say...me learn?"

Windy looked at me. "What're you getting at?"

"Curious." Unsure what I was trying to ask myself, I opted for a Ranger-answer.

"It's not impossible, but someone like say you would have to change their habits some."

"Wonder Woman always wanted to fly." Ranger grinned. I glared. Hopefully his ESP is working and he can hear me thinking about the merits of punching him. His grin widened into a real smile. GOOD ESP.

"Wonder Woman?"

"My Hero." I sashayed in the aisle, and Windy cracked a half smile. Hey - that means I'm getting somewhere, right?

"Start by ditching the doughnuts and fatty carbs, and running every morning. Then we'll talk about riding lessons and go from there." Hm... Probably she doesn't think I'll go through with it.

"Probably you won't." Ranger pointed out. I glared at him again. He grinned. I'll show him. He grinned wider.

We were following Windy around and I have to admit I was quite interested in what she was doing. I even petted a couple of the horses, the ones who looked like maybe they were friendly. Footsteps sounded on the concrete and the Tim person who went to work the gate after Windy's first wreck came around the corner. "Hey. Manoso. After begging to be signed in, you weren't even going to come say Hi?" He asked, striding up to us.

Ranger turned and greeted Tim, and introduced him to me. Turns out they knew each other from the Army.

While they talked, I turned back towards Windy. I thought that maybe I could ask her a few more questions about horses. This could be really cool. Especially if I seriously could learn how to fly. Hell, I'd even go running with Ranger for that! Thoughts of bugging her about her job disappeared when I saw her face. It was the first time ever I'd seen any emotion in it. And now it was full of emotion. Pain, sadness, horror...and in the middle of it, hope.

"Windy? You ok?" I asked, as she stood there, mouth working, not speaking. Ranger turned and looked at Windy, then at me, questioningly, before turning back to his conversation.

"Windy?" I asked again. I stepped closer to her.

"Manoso?" she whispered, finally. "What's his first name? No. No. Don't tell me." she added quickly, before I could give her Ranger's name. She looked ready to bolt so I grabbed her by the arms. Unfortunately, I forgot about her hurt arm and she whimpered, catching Ranger's attention again and drawing him away from Tim.

"Hey, Mystery Man, I think she knows you." I called over to him, keeping firm hold of the wrist attached to her good arm.

Ranger came over and Windy looked up and searched his face, pale as a ghost. I could feel the tension in him, but when I looked up at his face it was impassive, almost cold. Right, Ranger the un-trusting Manoso. I elbowed him and he looked at me quickly. "be human." I mouthed, and he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Who are you?" he asked evenly. Windy just shook her head, looking utterly miserable.

"Who do you think I am?" he tried again.

"I used to know a family of Manoso's." she finally whispered, twisting her arm away from me. She turned to move away, completely ready to bolt, but Ranger grabbed her arm and turned her back. For the tension I could feel in the air around him, he was surprisingly gentle.

"Who do you think I am?" he repeated.

I was watching Ranger as Windy looked up at him, and his eyes changed - suddenly revealing confusion and uncertainty, and the beginning of understanding. I was amazed that he unmasked himself.

"Emi-" he started, but she interrupted him.

"No. Don't ever use that name." She tried to pull away. "I was wrong. I don't know anyone by your name. I'm sorry."

Ranger kept her arm in a tight grasp. "Nuh uh. Who do you think I am?" Now there was a tenderness in his eyes, and the tension in his body had relaxed. Ranger knew who she was.

She looked up at him again, and he gently pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. I felt a twinge of jealousy, but forced it away. I was practically-engaged to Morelli, afterall. She swallowed, and let out a shaky breath. "C-Carlos?"

I have to admit, I was feeling teary watching the exchange. The hope in her voice was...incredible. Ranger nodded, a barely visible gesture, but she caught it. And then Windy dissolved into tears and Ranger pulled her into his arms, cradling her to his chest and murmuring softly in spanish.

Tim stood with me, watching this exchange as well. I looked at him and shrugged.

Finally, Ranger set him away from her, gently, and kissed her forehead. "I've missed you, Querida." he said softly, his voice almost a whisper. And then, as if he couldn't stand not having her close, he pulled her back into his arms. Completely cut loose from her usual controlled self, Windy was still crying softly.

And I... well... I still felt teary... but proud too, because in away, I did help re-unite two people who obviously cared greatly for each other. Although I was still a little jealous. I mean, I didn't bring out that soft, mushy side in Ranger ... at least... not that he ever showed. I didn't think Ranger HAD that kind of mushy side. But there it was. We stood for a bit longer before Ranger set Windy away from him again, gently brushed the tears away from her face with his hands, shushed the beginnings of an apology from her, and turned back to Tim.

"We'll have coffee sometime." he promised him, and Tim nodded. Jake was standing there by this time looking concerned for Windy, but I stepped in there and said simply "They knew each other but didn't realize it." Jake looked at Windy. "Childhood." she sniffed.

"Yeah, but you never..."

"It's ok, Jake, really."

"Go home Windy. We'll see you in the morning."

Windy nodded, looked at Ranger and I and again prepared to apologize.

"We'll come with you?" I said, a question because she was as private as Ranger, and I wasn't really included. But Ranger was my ride, and I wanted them to have time together. "I'd love to know how you two know each other."

Windy looked at Ranger, and Ranger nodded.


	7. Chapter 7

Ok, this is a smaller chapter. Btw - much as I am not an attention seeker, reviews are motivational ;)

Once again, I own nothing but Windy, Woleska, and the track-crap, which do not make an appearance here. I would desperately love to acquire Ranger for my own lair, however. Yum Yum Yum.

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The first thing Windy did when we got back to her "digs" was duck into the shower. Ranger immediately made himself at home on her couch, which I paced uncomfortably through the living room. Windy's dog, a huge Akita/Wolf cross named Woleska was sprawled in the chair across the living room, eying us warily. Actually, he was eyeing ME warily. Windy had introduced us to him right away, warning us that he was a bit protective. So Ranger and Woleska sprawled, looking a lot alike, and I paced under their radar.

"Babe." Ranger finally said, reaching out and snagging my arm as I paced past him. He tugged, and I tumbled onto the couch next to him. We sat there for a few minutes and I was still uncomfortable. I needed to move. Ranger wouldn't let me up. "Relax."

"I can't. I feel like I'm intruding. I mean, at least you obviously know her, but here I am, intruding in the lives of two private people." And no doughnuts in sight.

"I like the intrusion."

Well gee. That sounded...almost nice. Like maybe I'm becoming a part of Ranger's private life. Or maybe that's just what I wanted it to mean. I really needed a doughnut. I tried to get up again, but Ranger tugged me back down. Woleska stood, placed his front paws on the floor, ass still on the chair, stretched, and then hopped down, padding over and plopping down in front of us. I tried to pet him but he sucked just out of reach, and curled his lip up. I sat back. He stayed on guard.

"That dog is seriously giving me the creeps." I complained. It's not that i didn't want to be there, I was just, very uncomfortable. Ranger crooked an arm around my neck and pulled me towards him, kissing my temple. I leaned into him for a minute, and tried to relax. It wasn't working.

"Emily Halloran was a foster child living with our nextdoor neighbours. They were... basically in foster care for the money, and mostly got the Newark kids - kids who were inherently tough and would wind up in gangs. Wind up trouble, and who in general fit into the general atmosphere of the rougher streets. They didn't do much for the kids, fed them minimally, kept them clothed well enough to get by in school... but did not really do them fair. Emily had a strike against her by sheer virtue of being white, by not fitting. She looked more like someone who would come out of the Burg than Newark. I was eight, and she was six when she went to live with them. And she was continually picked on by her foster-siblings and everyone else. She didn't belong and it was their mission to make her know it. even 10 and 11year olds were picking on this little tiny six year old. There was next to nothing to her. I was getting beat up because I was small, and the wrong color... but she was getting it worse. And she was a girl."

"I remember you saying you had to learn to fight dirty and watch your back."

"Yeah. And I learned to watch Emily's. She followed me everywhere. I probably should have been annoyed, but it made me feel good to have this sweet little tagalong willing to do anything for me."

"And you took advantage of that, right?"

"No. She had a heart of gold. And she adored animals. Used to attract every stray for miles. My parents had 3 dogs because of her, all of which we kept until they died, many years later. When I was 12 I scraped up enough money, and begged off my mom, to take her to a fair and buy six rides, and the first ride she saw was the pony-ride. So we went for a pony ride. I will never forget the look on her face. I got off after one, and let her use the last 4 rides. She was so happy about the pony rides, and so sad when they were done, that when my mom heard she gave me more money to take her back the next day. We still didn't make it past the pony rides. By then my family had basically adopted her. From the time she was seven she spent more nights sleeping in my bed - I'd leave my window open and she'd escape out hers and crawl into mine - to escape the other kids in that house. One of their own sons was threatening to molest her. She was scared and came crying to me one day...I left my window open that night on. She was nine when my parents found out, quite by accident. They gave her a bed in Celia's room after that, but she still used mine to get into the house."

"Were your parents mad?" Wow. Child-Ranger information. My brain was absorbing it like a sponge that had been dry too long. Real Ranger-facts! Holy information Batman!

"Only that we didn't go to them for help."

"What happened after you went to Juvie?"

"I don't know. I never heard. I saw her about five minutes before I was arrested, and I was upset. Then... when I got out of Juvie and went to live in Miami... I went home for a visit and she wasn't there. My mom said she ran off when she was fourteen...just disappeared one day... left them a note saying she couldn't stay. I know she had to be scared - my family was a safe place for her - she should not have run without telling them where. I don't know what happened. I never saw her again. I tried to track her, to hunt down information about her, but nothing ever came up. She just...disappeared."

"And Re-appeared using only the name Windy."

"Yeah."

"Wow. That is so..." I was cut off by the water shutting off in the bathroom, and cut myself silent. First I finished in a whisper "amazing that you guys re-connected today."

"Thanks to you, babe." Ranger kissed my temple again. Woleska had raised his head and was looking towards the bathroom door. Something crashed and we could hear Windy cursing.

"You ok, querida?" Ranger called.

"Yeah. Fine. Give me a minute." Windy hollered back, but there was an edge in her voice. We heard more thumping and cursing, Woleska remaining at attention and Ranger slightly tense. Finally, the door opened and Windy hopped out on one foot, grumbling about her "fucking ankle."

"It broke?" Ranger asked, moving to get up.

"Fucking probably Fucking broken Fucking ankle." she growled back, collapsing in a chair in the kitchen and placing that leg on her knee. She bent over and poked at it, flinching. "Fuckwit Marcel Fucking not Fucking listening and Fucking killing his own Fucking horse and fucking breaking my fucking ankle." she continued her litany, yellin and poking at the ankle and turning it. "FUCK!"

Ranger had gotten up, and he knelt in front of her. "Let me see." he said, pushing her hands away and gently maneuvering the ankle. Windy winced but was silent. "You need to go to the hospital."

"No. If they cast it I can't ride. I'll wrap it and it'll be fine." She reached for the wrap, and began to re-wrap it, awkwardly with one hand. Ranger took over, then shoved her back when she moved to stand and checked her shoulder over.

"You're a mess." he stated.

"What's new. It's fine Carlos - really. I've been through worse." She stood up, and took a tentative step on the ankle. With the wrap on, she could walk. I suppose that meant she wouldn't go to the hospital. Ranger pulled her into his arms and hugged her again, before turning back towards the living room.

Windy grabbed an apple and went to the chair. Unfortunately for her, her dog had gotten there first and was sprawled lazily in it again. "Oh, go sit on someone else." Windy told him, and he slunk down and meandered over towards us while she sat. He sniffed Ranger's leg, then mine, then jumped up and sprawled on both our laps. Jeez.

"Woleska." Windy warned, but Ranger scratched his ear and ruined her command. I scratched the other one.

"It's fine." Ranger told her. "He's fine."

"He doesn't usually do that. He's usually more wary of strangers." Windy shrugged with her good shoulder. I was thinking that maybe this was a good sign, if he was accepting not only Ranger, but me too.

"So..." suddenly it felt really uncomfortable in the room, and I shifted. Ranger stretched an arm across my shoulders and anchored me to the couch. Never one to mince words, he got straight to the point. "Why won't you use your real name?"

"Because. If I'm going to die, I'm going to die flying - riding - not at the hands of foster brothers gang buddies."

"I can protect you you know."

"It's true" I chimed in. "Ranger and his merry men can keep anyone safe." I knew this from personal experience, of course. Many personal experiences, in fact.

"Meh. I like the name Windy."

"It suits you, querida. But so did Emily."

"Well..." Windy shrugged. We all lapsed into silence again. And again, it got uncomfortable.

"Hey. I've got an idea." I said, as a light went on. "I don't particularly feel like rolling around in garbage chasing after dead beats, you're hurt, and Ranger just got home and probably needs a break... So why don't we go off somewhere for the day? Compare notes on Carson and just... chill out?"

"Somewhere like..where?" Ranger asked.

"Like, maybe Point Pleasant?"

"You know, Babe, that's not a bad idea." Ranger said. Wow. Batman agreed with me. He looked towards Windy with an expression that half begged and half demanded she agree too.

"Only if I can bring my hound."

"Of course."

"We'll take the bat-truck, right?" I asked Ranger.

"Bat truck?" Emily asked.

"Ranger's batman. So it stands to reason that his fancy black vehicles are bat-vehicles, and since today he's driving a fancy black truck..." I explained in a small voice, not daring to look at Ranger.

"..It's the bat-truck." Emily finished off. She was quiet for a minute, then I got the priveledge of watching her look up at Ranger with a look of absolute incredulity. "They call you BATMAN? Oh, that is PERFECT." Her face broke into a huge grin and then suddenly she wrapped her arms around herself, anchoring her ribs, and started to laugh buckets.

I was smiling. Ranger gave me a pointed look and sighed, "Babe."


	8. Chapter 8

Another update. AS usual, the characters aren't mine. Except Windy and Woleska :) :)

And Ranger remains elusive, sliding through my fingertips like Smoke. Janet just won't let me have him, I guess exagerated sigh

Without further ado... idylwild. :)

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Barefoot, we walked down the sandy beach in Point Pleasant. The journey was slow out of deference to Windy's ankle, but rewarding. Ranger was a bit off put at having to walk so slow, I think. He didn't say anything, but I could feel it. Probably he didn't like all the attention he was drawing. The sun was warm and we were ambling along the warm sand, one of us on each side of Ranger, and he had his arms slung around our shoulders. Woleska stayed protectively at Windy's other side.

"We must be some sight." Windy muttered as yet another group of people gawked at us.

"We are." I grinned at her. "Afterall, we're only accompanied by one of the most gorgeous men Trenton has to offer." I, for one, was enjoying the feel of Ranger's arm around my shoulder - engagement to Morelli or not. It was...friendly. And safe. It also allowed him to squeeze my shoulder when I said something he didn't particularly appreciate, or something he DID particular appreciate. I think I'll believe that the shoulder squeeze I just got was in the latter category.

"That doesn't explain all the male attention." Ranger reminded me.

"Oh, yes. Well, that." I snickered. Windy raised one eyebrow at me, as if to ask if I was thinking what she was thinking. I grinned and nodded. It was easy. I knew why all the guys were gawking at Ranger. Windy knew. Ranger jus didn't WANT to know, so he pretended he didn't. I'm sure. Speaking of, he started to drum his fingers on my shoulder.

"Babe."

"What?"

"Explain it."

"Windy can."

"Nuh uh. I don't want to." Windy piped up. "You started this conversation. You finish it. I'm not getting smacked."

"I'd squeeze your shoulder too," Ranger told her, as he dug his fingers into mine, causing a faint discomfort but no real pain "but I don't want to hurt it." His hand was over her right shoulder, afterall, and that was the one with the broken collarbone.

"Don't care. Steph started it, Steph finishes it."

Ranger turned to me, waiting. And I knew from experience that Ranger could wait for days. Ranger was patience personified. He'd just drum his fingers over my shoulder and randomly squeeze it until I got annoyed and fed up and told him. And after about five minutes, his plan worked perfectly.

"Well really." I grumped. "You know damned well they're envying you because you're strolling the beach with two gorgeous women. They're all thinking "gee, he must think he's some stud with one on each arm."

"The best, babe."

Pretty sure I was blushing. That or it's way-too-early menopause.

"You're blushing." Ranger told me. He wore one of his thinking smiles.

"Actually, maybe they're just gay. Ever wanted to try the homo-experience? Go on, try to pick one up, bet it'll be easy for your gorgeous self." I sniped at him. I knew it was immature but I couldn't help myself. And really, it was the truth, afterall.

Finally,we made our way to a fairly secluded spot of beach, still in the sun. I flopped down and sprawled in the sand on my back, eyes closed. I didnt' feel anyone sit down next to me, so I opened my eyes. Ranger was standing at my head, staring down at me, grinning.

"What?"

"Only you, babe."

"WHAT?!"

Ranger didn't answer, he just sat down next to me, and then waited while Windy sat down, slowly, on his other side. Then he laid back also, settled the backpack we brought with us under his head before he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and hauled me towards him. He tucked Windy in on his other side, and we both wound up using him as our pillows. The dog glued himself to Windy's other side. We stayed like that, silent, for a while, each left to our own thoughts. I was thinking of all the reasons why this was ok. And wondering about all the reasons why it felt so much better to be with Ranger than Joe. And wondering if I really wanted to be married - eventually - to Joe. I mean... I guess I would if he could accept my job. And he's saying he can, but... how long will that last? I think, maybe he figures that once I get pregnant, he has a reason to force me to change careers without making it look like the career is the issue. And that worries me. And am I really mother material? I don't know.

"Babe." Ranger said softly, stroking a finger down my arm.

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Actually, I wished I could discuss it with Ranger. But he was quiet and behaved strange enough after he heard that probably I was going to marry Morelli, that I didn't want to bring that situation up. And probably he wasn't a good one to talk to about it, because he was biased too. Plus, I wasn't comfortable talking about it in front of Windy - who was probably Ranger's future wife. I mean, if he loved her so much when she was younger, probably he wanted to marry her even if he thought she was like a sister. And probably she was the reason he didn't "do" relationships. And probably it didn't matter what Ranger did because I'm supposed to be engaged to be engaged to Joe. And probably..."

"Babe. Something smells like it's about to explode. Wanna talk about it?"

"No... It's alright." I sighed. And willed my brain to shut up. Ranger turned his head and kissed the top of mine, before repeating the gesture on Windy's.

"So let's talk about Carson." he suggested.

"Let's not." Windy sighed. "My brain is blessedly blank and I'm loving it. Lets talk about him in a little while"

I think we all dozed off for a while as the heat got to us. Except maybe Ranger. Then again, Ranger's like a cat, so maybe he slept briefly too. I dozed and dreamed naked Ranger thoughts. Probably this was wrong and I should have been dreaming naked Morelli thoughts, but what's a girl to do?

As I drifted back to reality, I snuggled into Ranger's chest and savored the feel of him under my head, the scent of him, and the sound of his heartbeat. I could stay like this forever, I thought. I sighed a happy sigh as he trailed a finger down my arm. It felt like an intimate caress. I tipped my head up and found myself drowning in his warm chocolate gaze. Was that tenderness in his expression. Gently, he kissed me, his tongue tracing the outline of my lips but not crossing the threshold. I sighed into his mouth.

"Ugh." Windy mumbled. "Don't you think it's just a tiny bit uncouth to be making out in front of your little sister, Carlos?"

"Not particularly." He quit kissing me, but his lips stayed touching mine.

"Making out would require his tongue down my throat, which it isn't." I pointed out, murmurring against his lips.

"Gag me." This from Windy.

"You like things kinky little sister?" I felt Ranger's lips widen into his 200 watt grin. Windy sighed in exasperation and thumped Ranger on the stomach with her good arm. He chuckled against my mouth, and with one last lingering tongue-trace of my lips , he kissed me gently and tucked my head under his chin. "Feeling better querida?" he asked her.

"I killed a horse this morning." she whispered, with a trace of anguish. "And I probably broke my ankle."

"And now you move on." I said. I think that should have been Ranger's line, so I was feeling somewhat proud of myself for stealing it.

"Babe." I could feel him shaking his head. We were silent for a moment and I used it to contemplate how good it felt to lay with him. "Alright. We need to discuss Carson. Then you two can nap again."

"Do I detect amusement?" I accused.

"Babe." Yup, definitely amusement. I looked up to glare at him and found his mouth inches from mine, again.

"What do you want to know." Windy spoke up, interrupting us before he could kiss me again. Probably a good thing.

"Why did I Find out as a lead to contact?" I asked. That had me curious. She had said she knew him indirectly. So why was she a lead if she worked at the track but only knew him indirectly?

"I gallop for him at times. When he has a tough horse that the girls he has enslaved can't handle. Most of his riders are drugged up junkies, but he has one girl there that I try to look out for. So if she gets a bad one, I approach Carson to take it over."

"Carefully, I hope." Ranger's voice darkened a smidge.

"Yes. Carefully. Carson's careful not to piss the higher ups off, so he won't do anything to me as long as I stay out of his business. Actually, he's not really out to find prey - the people who conveniently disappear are the people who cross him."

"How easy is it to cross him?" I wondered.

"Easy enough on a superficial level. But what I mean is more like...if they find out what he's up to. Whatever he's doing that he's trying to hide. Or if they don't pay their debts. That kind of thing."

"So you don't need to worry." Ranger stated.

"I made damned sure not to ever walk up to him if he isn't in plain sight of many people, and no matter what, I never get within earshot of him if he's on the phone."

"So you have no idea what that business is."

"None. And I don't want to know. I like to live to ride another day."

"So what can we do to trace Carson's whereabouts?" I asked.

"Short of bugging Miles Ferrin's phone?"

"Presumably, since it's a cell." Ranger said dryly.

"Not much. There are a couple of people you can talk to. Keep an eye on Ferrin. If I can corner Alyse I will see, but I doubt she knows anything - she keeps her ears shut tight and doesn't communicate with anyone, really."

"We'll do that tomorrow morning." Ranger told her.

"You could talk to a couple grooms too. I'll give them a meeting place tomorrow, and you can go from there." Windy was silent for a minute. "I know he's a drug-runner. Well, most everyone knows that. But I almost think that that's a cover-up for something else."

"Something more sinister." Ranger prodded.

"Yeah."

"Be careful. Keep your ears open when you're at the track."

"Always, Carlos."

Ranger and Windy lapsed into silence and I continued to contemplate the conversation. My thoughts soon turned to Joe, Ranger, and my continuing moral dilemna.

"Babe. Quit thinking about it." Ranger sounded exasperated.

"Will do." I chirped.

"Smartass." he told me affectionately, chuking me under the chin.

"We should probably get up." Windy said wistfully. "I'd imagine you have to go back to work." she addressed Ranger.

"Called Tank and told him I was taking the day. Don't worry about it. If you guys want to stay here, we can stay here."

I snuggled deeper into Ranger as answer. He chuckled and cuddled me closer yet. I pondered how unlike Ranger he was being, until I lapsed back into dreamland and dreams of naked Ranger.

The sun had dropped on the horizon when Ranger nudged us awake. "Come on. We should get back." He pointed out. I groaned and snuggled into him.

"Eep!" I yelped when Ranger pinched me.

"Babe." the amusement in his voice made me growl. "Up." he demanded.

Slowly I climbed to my feet. Windy did the same and Woleska bounded up. Ranger slung an arm over each of our shoulders and we walked slowly back to the car, in silence.

"I'm glad we did this." I said as we got into the car. "It was good to take a break."

"Agreed." said Windy. We both looked at Ranger. He quirked a brow but said nothing as he put the truck into gear and headed back towards Trenton. We rode in silence, and I sighed as we hit the city limits and Ranger took the turn to take us back to the track to drop Windy off. Our idyllic interlude was at an end. Welcome back, reality.


	9. Chapter 9

This Chapter, I think, is a little bit shorter than the others. I would have liked to continue to the next scene in this chapter, but felt that it stood alone better anyhow.

I really really hope I managed to keep Ranger in character. It's bloody hard to keep him in character and also allow the character to grow - because we haven't seen him grow enough in JE's books, yet, I think. Steph & Joe are easy - they're like open books. But Ranger... Well, it's hard.

WARNING: Adult content & language.

As always, the characters all belong to JE, except for Windy & the track-crap. I haven't quite managed to get past Rangeman security to Bat-nap Ranger. Someday, my love, you will be mine as well... ;-)

_The sun had dropped on the horizon when Ranger nudged us awake. "Come on. We should get back." He pointed out. I groaned and snuggled into him. _

"_Eep!" I yelped when Ranger pinched me._

"_Babe." the amusement in his voice made me growl. "Up." he demanded._

_Slowly I climbed to my feet. Windy did the same and Woleska bounded up. Ranger slung an arm over each of our shoulders and we walked slowly back to the car, in silence. _

"_I'm glad we did this." I said as we got into the car. "It was good to take a break."_

"_Agreed." said Windy. We both looked at Ranger. He quirked a brow but said nothing as he put the truck into gear and headed back towards Trenton. We rode in silence, and I sighed as we hit the city limits and Ranger took the turn to take us back to the track to drop Windy off. Our idyllic interlude was at an end. Welcome back, reality. _

_(From Chapter 8...)_

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The next morning...

I drifted into consciousness to butterfly kisses on my face, lips, cheek, eyes, forehead, the side of my jaw... The kisses changed to open mouthed kisses on my neck, and down my collarbone. I squirmed in my dream, arching my shoulders against his mouth. My body felt hot, on fire, but I couldn't smell the smoke. Hazily, I thought that Joe's technique had changed over night. Still half asleep, I opened my mouth to tell him so..

"Mmm..Ranger." is what came out. The sound of Ranger's name in my ears jolted me awake and I started. Ranger? What the hell was he doing in my bed?????

"Morning Babe." he whispered against my skin, trailing kisses back up my neck to my mouth. I let him kiss me for a minute, my body desperate for more, before full awareness settled in.

"What, exactly, are you doing?" I asked him, my eyes narrowed, my hands moving to his face to shove him away. It didn't work, my arms didn't cooperate, and I wound up pulling his head down next to mine. His tongue tickled my earlobe.

"Waking you up. Thought you might be more agreeable to this."

"Not particularly. I'm engaged to Morelli, remember?" I said. My words doused cold water on both of us. Ranger pulled away slightly, his distance more emotional than physical... and I cursed myself for how cold I felt when I remembered. We were silent for a minute, both breathing slightly heavily.

"It's 6 in the morning again, isn't it?" I asked suspiciously.

"5:30. We're going back to the track."

"6 was fine time yesterday, why 5:30 today?" I demanded.

Ranger sighed. "I..." He seemed at loss for words.

"Want me to go running?" I asked, with a healthy dose of sarcasm, not really noticing Ranger himself.

"No. I don't have the energy to go run. I just...needed to see you." He said. There was a tone in his voice I'd never heard before, and I turned my head and looked at him - really looked at him. Up until this point I hadn't paid attention to him at all. His face was drawn, haggard. Gone was the relaxed Ranger of our previous afternoon at the beach. There was a feral anger simmering under the surface of his skin, this morning. An anger I suddenly realized was present from the instant he came to my awareness, but that I hadn't noticed. And there was a bandage sticking out slightly from the collar of his shirt. I looked into his eyes, his expression was flat.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, my hand moving involuntarily to trail down his neck and along the bandage. Ranger flinched, but didnt' say anything.

"What happened?" I tried again.

"Rough night."

"How did you get hurt?"

"Shot." He looked away from me.

"You're ok though, right?"

"Yeah, babe, just a flesh wound. Had to work last night." he said, and moved to roll off my bed. Suddenly it was clear that whatever his plans were for early morning, the reason he was here this early was because he needed...something. I thought comfort for a minute, but then realized that that wasn't the right word.

"You look lost." I said softly, reaching out and keeping him from getting up. I inched closer and ran my fingers through his hair, gently massaging his scalp. He closed his eyes, but not before I saw a flash of anguish in them.

"I killed a kid, last night. He couldn't have been more than seventeen. He shot at me, and I fired back - I didn't pull my shot. He got a shot off, and I didn't even think, just shot to kill. I could have just shot the gun out of his hand." His voice was cold, flat. I knew what he was thinking. Another mark for the dark side of Ranger.

"What are the chances he would have killed one of you if you hadn't?"

"I don't know. I should have shot to disarm him. Dangerous kid, but...maybe he could have been helped."

"Ranger." I said softly, tracing a finger down his face, stopping with my fingertip resting gently on his lower lip. I got no response. "Carlos." I tried again. He opened his eyes a slit to look at me, and again, he didn't shield the torment in his soul. "How much time did you have to make that decision?"

"I didn't. He pulled the gun, shot me, and I reacted. I didn't think. I should have thought."

His body was tense underneath my hands, and I moved to curl into him, hoping that if we just stayed together for a minute he'd relax. "You didn't have time. It's not your fault." I murmurred soothingly as I moved to rest my head on his good shoulder. Before I could, he sprang from the bed and stalked across the room, reached the wall, and stalked back, and then away again.

"I'm not a fucking hero Stephanie." He bit off, running his hands through his hair. I walked up and placed a hand on his back. He turned and faced me, nose to nose, his eyes cold and deadly. "I killed some kid tonight. Not because it was the right thing to do, not because there was no other option, but because it was the easiest thing to do at the moment. He shot my man, and he shot me, and instead of taking care of it in a rational manner, I shot to kill. I pulled my gun and fired without any hesitation, with every intent on killing him. And I felt GOOD about it." his voice was soft, but cold enough to freeze boiling water. I suppressed a shiver. "And then I come here, because there's nothing I want more than to sink my dick into you and take you. Hard and fast and furious. To make myself forget. And the fact that you're Morelli's be damned. The fact that you want to marry him be damned." He snarled, harsh and dangerous.

I forced myself not to step back. I looked at him, not knowing what to say. He stared back, his eyes changing as he tried to get himself under control again. He moved to turn away, but I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. I moved a half step forward and kissed him softly on the lips. I pulled back, but kept my hand on his shoulder. "You're not a hero, no. I know we joke about Batman all the time at the office, but we do know, or at least I do know, that you're just a man. But you are the person I know with the most integrity. You have a set moral code, and you live by it religiously. Your moral code may fall into gray areas, but you always do what you feel is right, even if your idea of right isn't in keeping with the rest of society. And you don't hurt innocents. I know your life isn't all sunshine and flowers. I love you anyway. You're my best friend." I hadn't told him about my revelation when Scrog shot him, about how I loved both him and Morelli.

Ranger wasn't looking at me. He'd dropped his gaze and ran his hands through his hair, stopping when they connected at the back of his head, and standing there, elbows pointing to the ground. He didn't say anything. I took his arm and tugged him towards the bed. "Racetrack or not, you need to get some rest first. Come lay down with me for a couple of hours. You'll feel better." I said softly. Nodding, he climbed under the covers and rested on his back, staring blankly at the ceiling. I crawled in next to him and curled up against him. He rolled onto his side and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tightly into the cradle of his body.

"Just let me hold you." he whispered, his voice raw.

I burried my head in his neck and raised an arm over him, resting my hand at the base of his neck and kneeding my fingers into tense muscle. I had never seen him like this. Always, he was strong, silent. The man of mystery who was unaffected by everything. I saw him affected when Scrog had Julie, and I thought even then that I never wanted to see him on edge like that again. But this, this was worse. I never thought I'd see this kind of self-recrimination in him. This kind of anguish. I never thought he'd feel it, and I especially never thought that, if by some chance he did, he'd ever let it show, ever let me see it. But he did, and it hurt me to see him, my batman, MY hero, like this. "Anything, Ranger. I'm always here for you." I said softly, as I felt him drift towards sleep. As his breathing leveled out and his muscles relaxed under my fingers, I drifted off myself.

000

I woke again to my alarm screaming at 8am. I was tangled up in Ranger, arms and legs entwined like unruly string.

"Babe." Ranger said softly, kissing the base of my throat. I mumbled something incoherent and rolled off of him. He didn't let go, though, and wound up on top of me. I felt his face up against mine, and opened my eyes. I found myself looking directly into his, and still his expression was unguarded. His eyes were haunted, but he was no longer a ticking bomb.

"Ranger." I whispered, raising a hand to frame his face, caressing his cheek.

"Thank you." he said, simply, and leaned down to brush his lips against mine gently. I kissed him back and opened to him, and our tongues probed and meshed. I sighed into his mouth, and he groaned, pulling away.

"I won't do this to you." he said, turning away from me and pushing himself off the bed. I knew what he meant - he wouldn't put me in the position of cheating on Morelli. Or even considering it. Two hours ago, our relationship had changed in a dramatic way. I just wasn't sure what way that was. But I knew one thing: Up until two hours ago, Ranger would have acted with partial consent. And I was more than willing to consent if it would make him feel better. But now, I knew he'd protect me from himself. I just wasn't sure why. I rolled out of bed and landed at his feet.

Ranger looked down at me and a hint of humor came into his eyes. He bent down and lifted me to my feet, then pulled me tightly into him and burried his face in my hair. We stood that way for a moment, before he took a breath and set me away. And then he was Ranger again, all business and a man of minimal words. "Get dressed. We'll grab coffee on the way out and get down to the track. I found some stuff out about Carson last night we need to pursue."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10, a short one. 11 will be on its way shortly.

As always, I own nothing but Windy & the track crap. And the batnapping of Ranger has continued to prove unsuccessful. So the wonderful JE still has full ownership of him sigh

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"Where is Morelli, anyhow?" Ranger asked me as we walked through the entry gates at the racetrack shortly before 9 am, breaking the silence that had sat between us since we left my apartment.

"Left me a message last night saying he'd be out of town undercover for a week or so." I shrugged. Lucky for Ranger, I thought. I wondered, too, when he'd tell me what he found out about Carson. Obviously not here at the track. I was surprised he hadn't filled me in in the car, but he wasn't completely himself and I had forced myself to let him tell me on his own time.

We walked down to the track, and instead of sitting on the bench, Ranger walked over to where Windy was standing with Jake, in between horses. She looked over at us.

"Hey." she said, giving both of us a small smile.

"How's the body?" Ranger asked.

"Sore. I'm managing though. Good morning so far."

"She should be in bed." Jake grumbled, and Windy glared at him.

"Got some information last night. You game to be in on this?" Ranger asked. Windy looked at him for a long minute, and nodded slightly. "Good." he said. "We'll grab lunch when you're done, and go to Rangeman after." He turned away, then turned back to Windy and gently placed a hand on her head. "Stay safe this morning, querida." he said, his voice whisper soft, before turning and placing a hand at the small of my back to guide me towards our bench. He was back to surveying.

This morning we sat in silence, none of the day before's bantering. I watched as Windy rode two horses, and then walked, limping, for coffee with Jake as they waited for works to begin. It was obvious that she was sore, but she was managing as she said.

Cup of coffee in hand, on the way back to the track, Windy sat on the bench beside me. "So you still want to learn to ride?" she asked me, her face breaking into a very brief grin.

"Haven't had a donut yet this morning." I said, but realized that it wasn't even a conscious thing. Oh well, it still sounds good, right?

"Great. I talked to Jake and he's got the perfect horse to teach you on."

"You trying to kill my babe, querida?" Ranger asked, his voice still soft.

"Nah. Just want to see if she can hack it." Windy laughed.

"Go ride, and stay safe." he said, as Jake called over to her from the gap. At the same time, Miles Ferrin, Carson's frog-faced man took a call on the cell phone and Ranger directed his attention, and predatory ears, on that conversation. I kept watching Windy. I felt Ranger take my hand, and I squeezed his gently. He squeezed back, I think he was trying to reassure me, and his fingers started to play with the Promise Ring again. I wasn't sure why he always played with it, and it bothered me, a little. I leaned against him and watched as Windy was legged up onto another horse.

"...Next thursday should be fine for a shipment." I heard frog-face say quietly into his phone as he walked past us. I continued to watch Windy. Ranger continued to play with my ring.

000

Windy's POV... On the track.

"You shouldn't be riding that one, Alyse. He'll hurt you."

"I know." the girl said, her voice barely above a whisper. Unspoken was what Windy knew very well - Johnny Carson would have beaten her to a pulp and tossed her out on the street if she refused. The only way to get the girl off the horse would be if Windy herself walked up and offered to ride him, pretended to take an interest in him. But with the investigations going on, that would make it hard to do. Put her in a really bad spot. Then again, she mused, from her position on Danny's back, maybe it would be an opportunity to carefully eavesdrop on the barn.

"Work him out of the gate with my guy today. It won't matter if they go in company." she told the girl impulsively. "I'll help you with him best I can. You need to take a shorter hold, take your cross a bit tighter, and stay as still and steady as possible. Both legs on and try and ride him in a straight line. He looks like his favorite thing is to drop a shoulder or hip and leap sideways. -"

"And then he bucks, after that." the girl added in.

"Figures. It's the bloodlines." Windy groused. "Miserable bucks to ride, too."

"I come off every time he does it." the girl said, as the horse skittered around underneath her. She struggled to stay on.

"Relax. Let your body mold to him, muscles relaxed and loose."

"If I'm loose he'll get me off."

"Don't be loose in the saddle. But keep your muscles loose. If your muscles are tight, and tense, you can't mold yourself to the horse, and he has a better chance of jarring you loose. And once he jars you loose he'll buck you off. Melt into him, stay on your feet, and you'll be better off." Windy told her as they moved into a gallop down the track. She checked Danny - easy boy, we're going to stay with this one today. - and kept helping Carson's rider along. The girl was a decent human being, not into drugs or excessive drinking, and always seemed sober and hard working. She wasn't sure why she was working for Carson, but to date she didn't dare ask. The horses were both fresh, but they warmed up well. It hurt her ribs and lungs to try and ride and talk at the same time, but she really wanted to see Alyse's ride go well. The kid was barely sixteen, the last thing she needed was to get seriously hurt. "Stay assertive." she told the girl as the horse kicked up a back leg and the girl backed off. "Always ride agressive, assertive, and tight to the horse. Keep your leg relaxed."

She continued to coach the young girl around the track, and then they loaded into the gate together. The gates banged open and the horses shot out. Alyse's horse bolted on her instantly. Windy made a split second decision - and asked Danny to go faster than she wanted him going, holding him a neck behind the runaway, keeping Alyse's horse against the rail, forcing his path. "He has no where to go but forward, don't haul on him, just let him run. And when he starts to slow, you'll kick him more forward." she called to the girl, who immediately quit hauling back on the horse and let him go. The horse pulled forward and Windy checked Danny to keep him at the horse's shoulder, a vantage point where she could still coach and help her through it. Probably she should take that one over tomorrow. She sighed inwardly and slowed Danny as the other horse slowed. "Kick him now. We're finishing this faster than we started it." she hollered at the girl, and urged Danny forward again. His muscles bunched underneath her and he surged in one powerful stride. They swept the last bit of the stretch, the bay horse still slightly out of control, and Danny flying faster than she'd ridden him yet. He felt good. Jake was going to like this horse, she thought to herself. He was going to be unbeatable next year. As they past the end marker, she started to rein Danny in, then kept him a bit behind the other horse, coaching the girl on reining in a tougher horse. Slowly they both came back to a trot, and jogged the horses back to the gap. She shrugged at Jake as she slid off Danny's back, answering his raised eyebrow.

"Stay safe, Alyse." she told the girl, as the girl slid off the horse beside her. She was boosted onto her next horse as Ferrin walked up to the girl, face puckered.

000

I had watched, quite interested, as it became obvious that Windy was helping the other girl along. It seemed exactly like a Windy thing to do. Now, frog-face had just walked up to the girl and he was red in the face. Ranger was watching, face impassive. I was worried though. I didn't get a good feeling about this.

"What the fuck was that." frog-face demanded of the girl, grabbing her by the shoulder. "Can't you fucking ride anything right? You don't let them fly out of control when they break out of the gate, you don't let them run fucking away with you whenever they see fit. You RIDE the god damned cocksuckers and you stay on their backs and you make them do what you tell them to, NOT what they want to." he was in her face, nose to nose with her. She stood there, silent, taking it. His fingers noticeably dug tighter into her shoulder, and he shoved her away. She staggered and nearly fell, but caught her balance at the last minute. "Get your ass on the next horse and do it right this time." he snarled, grabbing her by the back of the neck and shoving her towards a waiting horse. He boosted her on the horse, led the horse on the track, and smacked it on the rear as it passed, making it scoot forward and nearly unseat the shaken rider.

I looked over at Ranger. His face was still impassive, emotionless, but he was tense beside me. His hand, still holding mine, was no longer playing with my ring, but one finger was twitching compulsively my palm. I was disgusted with what we'd just seen. And I knew, from the feel of him beside me, that Ranger was too. I squeezed his hand gently, and leaned into him. We watched and listening for the next hour but never heard anything we could use. The last set of the day, Windy rode with Alyse again.

000

The track was basically empty, most of the works were done and there were only 4 riders left out. Windy warmed up with Alyse again, and as they hit the farther part of the track, away from all ears, she couldn't resist asking Alyse about Johnny. "Why do you ride for Johnny? Why not ride for someone decent?" she asked the girl, quietly.

"I don't have a choice." the girl tensed.

"You always have a choice. You could come work for Jake and I, or even Rick would be better than Carson - he's an ass but he's a good trainer and he'll keep you safe. You don't need to tolerate the abuse."

'I do. I can't talk about it. Please." Alyse looked at Windy, her eyes pleading. Windy opened her mouth to argue it, but thought better and left it. They rode in silence, warmed the horses up, and put in a decent work out of the gate. Alyse's horse stayed in control and Windy only gave her a couple of tips, as they worked the horses almost head to head. As they were pulling up, and the pony riders trotting towards them in case they needed help, Windy called Alyse's name softly to catch her attention. The girl looked over.

"If you need help, find me. Be discrete, but come to me. I'll help you." she told the girl quietly as the riders got closer. An almost unnoticeable nod was the only answer she got. Alyse turned her horse and jogged him towards the gate, while Windy followed behind on a dancing, still frisky mare. She was grateful the morning was over, she ached and hurt. Time to check in at the barn, shower, down some drugs, and head to the other job.

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We walked back to Jake's barn with him and Windy. I liked Jake. He seemed like a good guy, respectable and honest. Windy seemed to really respect him, too, and Ranger appeared comfortable with him. Or, as comfortable as Ranger seems to be today period. He was always touching me, playing with my hand while we sat and surveyed, or holding a hand at the small of my back while we walked. But while before, I would have thought he was poaching, none of it felt sexual at all today. I wondered if he needed that contact to stay grounded. Other than that, though, he was his normal self. Nobody else noticed that he wasn't quite himself, not even Windy.

Windy spent about a half hour going through the barn, checking horses, and discussing things with Jake. I wandered through the barn and patted a couple of noses, cautiously. Ranger stayed with me, observing the activity, always touching me still. At one point, as one of the young grooms walked by, the tension of his fingers changed every so slightly, and I turned impulsively and hugged him, quick and hard, before turning back to the nose I was going to pet. "Quit thinking about it." I told him softly.

We walked back towards Jake's "office", just an empty stall, really, and I looked at all of the animals in awe. They all looked like sleek machines. Sleek, fully loaded sports cars. Speed and power. I didn't know much, but I thought they were gorgeous. When Windy was done, we headed back to her place so she could shower. She immediately disappeared into the bathroom.Woleska accepted us without a qualm, and sat with me on the couch while Ranger stalked the living room, feral energy emanating off of him again.

"Ranger." I said softly. He glanced at me briefly, shook his head hard to the side, and continued to pace, stalking from one end of the room to the other like a caged tiger. Woleska was starting to eye him warily.

"Ranger." I said again.

"Let it go." he told me.

"No." I said, getting up and walking over to him. He stalked to the wall and turned, and there I was. I moved my left arm around his waist and stepped into him, winding my right arm around his neck, holding him to me. "You need to let it go. You've killed before. You've never been like this."

"His eyes, babe. His eyes. The fear." He tried to pull away, but I squeezed him tighter. "He was scared. He shot because he was running scared. And I killed him."

"Let it go, love. Right or wrong, it's done. Now you move on." I rubbed circles on his lower back. I had no idea if it was helping. He was holding me as tightly as I was holding him, now, his face burried in the top of my head, his breathing sharp and choppy, tension in every part of his body. I turned my face into him and kissed his neck.

"I'll be fine tomorrow." he said into my hair.

"Did you get any sleep other than the two hours this morning?"

"No."

"You need sleep. You're too tired to cope." I was starting to believe that last night wasn't the only night he hadn't slept.

"Tonight."

We stood together in silence for some time, and slowly the tension eased out of Ranger's body. I hated seeing him like this, I had no idea how to help him.

"Sorry, babe." he whispered, disengaging us and stepping back. He looked down at me and touched his lips to mine. "Thank you." he said against my lips, touched his tongue to me, and stepped back. His eyes were unreadable, almost as if he was confused. He pulled me with him and sat beside me on the couch, thigh touching mine. Normally I would move a bit away, out of temptation's reach, but there was nothing sexual about it, today. The shower had stopped, and soon Windy was ready to go. Ranger tugged me to my feet and we headed out the door, Windy to her car, and Ranger and I to the Porsche.

Before we left Windy's, Ranger had called Ella and ordered lunch. It was decided we'd grab a bite in his apartment, and then go down to the conference room and meet with a couple of the guys he was planning on pulling on to the case. The ride back to Rangeman was as silent as our ride to the track.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11...

and the batnapping of Ranger has yet to becoem reality. JE owns everything but Windy & the track-crap. I'm borrowing the rest, and cheerfully using them for my own misguided intentions ;-)

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"Alright." Ranger said from the head of the conference table, all business and in control. We'd just sat down after a delicious lunch made by Ella. Tank and Lester had joined us. Bobby was the man who got shot last night during Ranger's nightmare takedown. "Last night's takedown was, unknown to us at the time, related in some degree to Johnny Carson, an FTA of Stephanie's. Carson is a dangerous FTA that Steph shouldn't have gotten, so I'm taking a large interest in it and helping her. To the right of Steph is Windy, a rider at the track and Vinnie's new bounty hunter. She was also Steph's only lead to Carson. She's also been helping with Carson. Windy, Tank and Lester." Ranger gestured to each man in turn. Lester's eyes lingered on Windy for a brief moment.

Introductions done, he continued. I sat back and listened to him take charge. Normally I'd have an issue with this, but Johnny Carson scared me, just by his profile. "He is known to be heavy in drugs, Crystal Meth and Rohypnol. He uses the Rohypnol on women he meets at bars, or people - male or female- who've dug into his "business" or failed in it. Once drugged on Rohypnol he binds the victim, waits until the victim comes around clear enough to be lucid, and then tortures and rapes them repeatedly until death. What we don't know is what he's hiding when eliminating his victims. Last night we got a pretty good tip, though." He paused for a minute, shuffling through his papers.

"There is a ring I've been working on breaking for a few months now, for the government. It is a group of people who recruit teenage girls, and possibly kidnap younger girls, and keep them heavily drugged while filming rough, barbaric pornographic material. At times the acts are so rough that they kill the girls. The FBI has been working on breaking this ring for some time, with no success. Last night, we were staking out a high-bond FTA who was brought in on other charges, but suspected of being heavily involved in this ring. This had never been confirmed until last night, when we were inadvertently treated to confirmation that he is in the inner circle of the ring. The FTA, at one point, took a phone call from John Carson. They spoke in code but it is highly suspect that Carson is also involved in this ring, possibly leading it."

I was listening closely. At this point, Ranger looked at both myself and Windy. "I want you two to be in the background for this." I sat up straighter, ready to protest. "Windy, I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your ears open at the track but do not ask questions, do not look into things. Keep your ears open but don't go looking for information - just pass on anything you might hear in passing. Babe," he looked at me, eyes boring into mine, almost pleading. "I would really like it if you signed the paperwork over to me. I would like for you to be involved in solving this, from a research and intelligence end. But I would really, really appreciate it if you stayed off the front lines. If I'm doing safe surveillance, at the racetrack, or elsewhere, then I'll bring you as my partner. Lester and Tank will also be working this. Bobby too, when he is back to work."

I didn't answer right away.

"Babe." he said softly, this time there was definitely pleading involved.

"Can we talk about it after?" I asked quietly. I wanted to think about this for a bit longer. I hated the idea of giving up, but I had looked through the file Ranger handed out at the beginning and the pictures of the children, and women, were horrifying. And Ranger never, ever talks this much, and gives this much information out. I was sure it was because he wanted us to be armed with all the knowledge. And because he wanted to scare us off.

The men continued to discuss matters, and then Tank and Lester got up to leave.

"Redecorating tomorrow morning, still, boss?" Tank asked as he stood. Ranger nodded. The men left, but not before Lester gave Windy a long, searching look. I raised my eyebrows.

"You going to the bonds office?" I asked Windy.

"Yeah. You?"

"I want to talk to Ranger for a bit. About the case. Do you mind doing the preliminary research on any files Connie has for us, and then tomorrow we'll go work on pickups."

"Works for me." Windy agreed, and with a brief word to Ranger, she left. Ranger and I eyed each other from across the table.

"What are your plans for the afternoon?" I asked him.

"Paperwork. Research. Office work."

"You're not in the field?"

"No."

"Need help with the research?" I asked him. I thought he should probably go sleep, not work. Ranger was silent for a minute, then nodded. Guess I was helping him today.

"Thanks babe." he said tiredly, running a hand through his hair.

"Maybe you should rest first." I suggested.

Ranger shook his head. "We'll work from the apartment, though." He gathered the papers off the conference table and headed for the door. I followed him to the elevator, and up to the seventh floor apartment. He dropped his keys in the sideboard dish and wearily made his way to the office. Halfway there he stopped and turned to me.

"I don't want to argue about this, Steph. I don't want you pursuing Carson. If it's about the money, you can have it, but I want the file."

"I wanted to talk to you about the logistics, not argue it. I don't care about the money for the bond. I just... don't want to be pushed aside."

"Babe, I want your spidey-sense, and I want your input. I just don't want you pursuing leads actively. I don't want him hurting you."

"Look. I don't care who has the paperwork. I won't do anything without your approval and knowledge. But I want to help. And I don't just want to be your sounding board, I want to see it all for myself."

"You can see it all for yourself in so much as I feel it's safe. I need you safe." He told me, and I was suddenly aware of the wealth of meaning behind him needing me safe. Maybe it was the events of the morning, but I realized at that minute that he was truly scared for me if I was too involved in this case. He needed me safe, and he was willing to let me have all the money, while he did all the work, and paid men to help him, just to keep me safe and happy.

"We'll play your cards." I said softly, walking up to him and looking in his eyes. I saw a flicker of relief. He nodded, and turned towards the office.

"You can work on my computer in my office, I'll just get the files for you to start researching." He dug out the files and sat me down, telling me that all of the programs I had on the 5th floor were also available here. I got to work, and Ranger sat himself down on one of the bar stools along the island in his kitchen and immersed himself in paperwork.

We worked for about 3 hours, when Ranger appeared, leaning in the doorway. "Can I ask a favor?"

I looked up at him and waited for him to finish.

"I have a 'redecorating' job tomorrow morning. Early. And Bobby's out. Would you mind helping?" he asked me. I thought about it for half a second and nodded. "Thanks." he said. "I ordered supper. I ordered some for you too. It'll be here shortly." he told me, and then turned to go back to his paperwork.

Supper came and as always, Ella was a wonder. "I want Ella. Can I have her?" I asked Ranger when we were about half finished our food. He just smiled a small smile at me, obviously amused, but didn't say anything. We finished eating in silence, but it was comfortable. After we ate I moved the dishes back to the tray Ella had brought while Ranger looked at his paperwork for a minute, shook his head, and sprawled on the couch with the remote. He turned on the TV and started flipping channels.

Once I had the dishes gathered, I walked over to the couch and looked down at Ranger, raising one eyebrow. He flashed me a wolf grin and grabbed me wrist, tugging me down beside him. We sat in silence while he flipped channels, then settled on a basketball game. I don't think either of us were paying attention. I was thinking about Joe, and Carson, and everything that had happened over the course of the day.

"How do you think the "shipment" frogface mentioned plays into this?" I asked him.

"Drugs? Maybe. Film? I don't know. depends on how "in" Frog-face is. I have to look into that further. Thought we might go to the track again on Saturday for the races."

We were silent again, and a basket was scored on tv. "How did Bobby get shot?" I asked. I remembered Ranger saying that the guy shot at him and he killed the guy, which sounded like only one shot was fired. But then he said Bobby was shot too. It didn't make sense to me.

"Bullet went through my shoulder and hit Bobby in the neck."

"Bad?"

"He'll be ok. Lots of blood, but no worse than when Scrog shot me." Ranger shrugged.

"Glad he'll be ok." I said. "I'm glad you're ok." Ranger crooked his arm around my neck and pulled me to him, kissing my temple and then anchoring his arm around my shoulders so I couldn't move away. I relaxed into his side and dozed off for a while.

I woke to my phone ringing. I looked at the display, and answered. "Hey Joe." I said, still leaning against Ranger in front of the television.

"Hey Cupcake. Where are you?"

"Huh?" I asked, as another basket was scored.

"I tried you at home and didn't get an answer."

"Oh. Yeah. I'm watching a basketball game."

"With who?"

Oh shit. I took a breath. "Ranger. I was helping him with some research today, and he's helping me with an FTA... and we're watching a game before a job tonight."

"Cupcake..."

"Joe, he's my friend. Trust me. Otherwise this will never work." I sighed.

"I trust you, cupcake. I guess I was just hoping you were at home pining for me." he said wryly.

"Nah..I figured I'd come pine over at Ranger's tonight. Besides, Ella's a brilliant cook."

"Yeah. You're only here for my food and over-sized television." Ranger said from beside me.

"You got that right." I told him. and to my surprise Joe laughed in the phone. Ranger crooked my neck, pulled me to him, and kissed my temple, touching it with his tongue before setting me away from him and letting his arm drape around my shoulders again.

"I guess if you're only there for the food and the size of the TV, I don't have much to worry about." It's funny, really. Since everything with Scrog, it's as if Joe has realized, and acknowledged, that I do have feelings for Ranger. Definitely he has a new respect for Ranger after everything that happened at the end, how Ranger handled things in my apartment. And it's as if he's decided that since I've chosen him, he's safe. He may not totally like it, but he accepts Ranger's place in my life much better now... although I still try not to flaunt it. So it did surprise me that he wasn't blowing up over my being at Ranger's now... Maybe the ring is part of it. I'm not sure.

"Nope, nothing at all. Miss you." I told him. "When are you coming home?"

"It'll be at least another 5 days. Just wanted to call and say hi." Joe said. "I'll let you get back to the game. I'm watching it too."

"K. Night Joe."

"Love you Cupcake." and he disconnected. As I shut the phone and stuffed it back in my pocket, I realized that I still very rarely told Joe that I loved him. I started to think about that when Ranger yawned beside me. I looked over at him.

"You should go to bed. What time do we have to be up?" I asked him.

"We're leaving at 5."

"I should get home." I said, going to stand. Ranger's arm locked, anchoring me to the couch by my shoulders.

"Stay here, it's easier." he offered.

"I don't know, Ranger..." I shook my head. That, I'm pretty sure, would be more than Joe could handle.

"Please babe. Take the couch. It saves a trip to pick you up in the morning." he pointed out.

I rolled my eyes, well aware that that was manipulation at its finest. "Ok, sure. Your sheets are nicer than mine anyhow."

Ranger let out a single, sharp bark of laughter before getting up to go grab me a couple blankets from the closet and a pillow from his bed. He showered, then I borrowed a t-shirt from him and showered with his delicious bulgari shower gel. Heaven. Ranger's sheets, Ranger's shower gel, Ranger's food, Ranger himself..I moaned in appreciation for the finer points of life as i borrowed Ranger's toothbrush, to brush my teeth. When I was done I shut the light and walked out of the bathroom to find Ranger already in bed, on his side, eyes closed. I tiptoed through his room to the door, trying not to disturb him.

"Night, babe." I heard him mumble, obviously more than half asleep, as I left the room.

"Goodnight, Ranger." I said softly, closing his door halfway behind me. I left my clothes in a neat pile on the floor by the couch and crawled into my makeshift bed. I doused the light and fell asleep quickly, lulled by the faint sound of Ranger's even breathing from the other room.


	12. Chapter 12

This chapter requires a warning for strong adult content & language. And content of a sexual nature.

And Ranger has yet allow himself to be batnapped sigh So he is JE's, and everyone else is JE's, except Windy, the track crap, Aly and Izzy.

And I'm still borrowing the rest from JE :)

0000000

Once again I drifted into wakefulness to butterfly kisses on my face and eyes. "Wake up, Babe." Ranger murmurred against my skin. "Time to get up."

"Mmm.. What time?" I asked, sleepily winding my arms around his neck and pulling him down to me. He kissed me, his tongue tracing the outline of my lips, before pulling away and answering.

"4:30."

"Too early." I mumbled, trying to pull him back down. He came halfway towards me and then twisted, scooping me up to his chest, hugging me, and then setting me on my feet.

"Go." he told me, giving me a gentle shove towards his room. I staggered to the bathroom and splashed some water on my face to wake myself up.

"Shit." I grumbled to myself. Gotta keep my hands OFF the gorgeous hunk of Cuban sexiness. As I took care of business and put the clothes Ranger had left for me on, I tried to remember why I had to be up so early today. Oh, right. Redecorating. I put the flak vest on underneath my second sweater. Wait, they're calling it redecorating. Tank called it redecorating. Since when...?

"Why are you guys calling it a redecorating job?" I asked Ranger suspiciously as I walked out of the bathroom to find him pulling a shirt over his head, covering his flak jacket.

"You coined it." he reminded me. I remembered that, thinking we were interior decorating or something, albeit at a really odd hour.

"Yes, I remember that. But why are you guys calling it that?"

"Tank thought it was cute." Ranger told me. I scowled. He crooked an arm around me neck and pulled me a step sideways to him, kissed me beside my ear, and the moved the hand to the small of my back, pushing me ahead of him out the door. "Come on, or we'll be late."

I sighed as I sank into the passenger seat of the truck, and Ranger started the engine. It hummed, and all of the dashlights lit up. I wished we were taking the Turbo. I loved that car in the dark. I loved that car period. But it wasn't real inconspicuous and was best left at home for jobs like this, I guessed. Ranger pulled out of the underground parking lot and rolled onto the street. We moved along, the quiet hum of the truck's engine the only sound. The streets were empty, and it felt peaceful and comfortable to be out. My thoughts turned back to the day before, and Ranger's reaction to killing the kid. I thought about that, and now un-Ranger-like it was...

"Was that kid your FTA?" I asked suddenly. Ranger started and looked over at me, silent for a minute.

"No. Just part of his group."

"Well, if he was part of his group..."

"He might not have been there by choice. We'll never know now." Ranger shrugged. "It's done. Move on."

"Just trying to figure it out. Did you get the FTA?"

"No. I'll have to go back for him."

I nodded, and that was the end of the conversation. The silence that permeated the truck was comfortable, though. The feral aspect of Ranger was gone, and he was back to his normal, mysterious self. Obviously he no longer cared that he killed the kid - or, at least, he had his emotion firmly locked away and refused to let himself care. I pondered it all for a little while, and then gave up, watching the road go by. We were heading towards the racetrack. Interesting. We passed the track and turned left two blocks later. Ranger drove another block and a half and parked in front of a five story building that looked like it was in need of quite a few repairs. A black SUV was already parked out front. Tank and Lester.

I went to get out and Ranger hit the door locks. I turned to look at him. "What?" I asked.

Ranger shook his head almost unperceivably, his lips curling up into the barest hint of a smile. He reached out, touched my cheek, then leaned forward and kissed me. It was a warm, soft kiss. And it was short. "Good morning." his eyes laughed at me.

"I don't get it." I deadpanned.

Ranger reached under the seat and pulled out a Sig and a nylon gunbelt. He stuffed the sig into the belt, then reached both arms around me and attached it around my waist. "You forgot to get dressed." he told me.

"My gun is at home."

"You should have had it yesterday."

"You never said anything before we left my apartment yesterday."

Ranger raised an eyebrow. "I shouldn't have had to. Let's go."

And we headed out to meet Lester and Tank in the lobby. Lester grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at me, laughing at us for making them wait. I contemplated kicking him in the shin. Ranger reached out and squeezed my arm. "No." he told me. Damn. With a sigh, I decided i'd just behave.

We took the elevator to the third floor and walked to a door down the hall. Ranger didn't bother knocking. He picked the lock and then, gun in hand and at the ready, he swung the door open. Gun drawn, he walked two steps into the room, then a third, to the end of the entry way. I was behind him, Lester and Tank bringing up the rear.

The last time I helped with a job like this, everyone was probably asleep and Ranger hollered SECURITY at the top of his lungs, scaring the shit out of me and the occupants we were evicting. This time he stopped dead in the entry and even though I was behind him, I felt his jaw twitch. "What?" I whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder and rising to my tippy toes, placing my head against his. His shoulder was the only thing stopping my jaw from hitting the floor.

I expected stoned people passed out everywhere, and there were definitely some of those. I didn't expect to see three different couples and two other guys with one girl, going at it like rabbits. And I couldn't believe that a couple of the positions they were going at it in were even possible. My brain and my body were no longer cooperating because even as my brain screamed step back, look away, I was drawn to the scene playing out in front of me. I was frozen on my tippy toes, pressed tightly into Ranger's back, hand on his shoulder. And it was making me hot and bothered. Shit. Not good. Desire and horror mixed together to create something I couldn't even name. "My god. Doesn't that HURT?" I whispered in Ranger's ear, eyes glued to a woman twisted in three directions, legs practically in the splits to accomodate the guy.

"If you want, we can try it and find out." I caught his grin, even though he was facing mostly away from me. He liked the idea.

I gasped and stepped away from him as if I'd been burned. Pretty sure it was a really bad thing to find the idea of trying something so kinky with Ranger appealing. I tried to get a grip on my hormones. Heck, I can always try it with Morelli, right? Nope, my brain nixed that idea right away. I didn't trust Morelli to not get carried away, to stop if it wasn't comfortable. And I sure didn't trust it would be comfortable. Oh god, Stephanie, get a grip on yourself. Ranger glanced over at me, his eyes twinkling. "Can we get on with this already?" I demanded in a harsh whisper.

"Shame to ruin their fun, don't you think?"

"You trying to pick up some technique?" I shot back. Ranger grinned at me, the full 200 watts, even as he kept a dilligent eye on everything in the room. He was very aware of everything. I glanced back at Lester and Tank, who both stood grinning like fools in the background. Their attention was half on the room, but I was pretty sure it was also half on Ranger and I.

One of the couples got more vocal, the woman's whimpers turning into more forceful moans, the man groaning louder as he picked up tempo. I was getting seriously hot and bothered and it flashed through my mind to throw Ranger down and have my way with him. My whole body was electrified and I was having serious hot flashes. They were nearing orgasm and I knew I couldn't handle watching that. Ranger glanced at me again and his eyes darkened. "Get a move on." I hissed, then slapped a hand over my mouth as I realized the double meaning it could have. "Shit."

"Maybe later, babe." he flashed me a wolf grin and then stepped purposefully into the room, hitting the main lights. "Security." he yelled, and Tank and Lester stepped beside me, the three of us one step behind Ranger, guns drawn. People flew up off of beds, and pandamonium erupted, just like the last time I'd done this. Clothes were flying, people screaming, arguing, panicking, fighting for their perceived right to stay there, in their own house. No way this apartment belonged to everyone here. The couples who had been otherwise engaged were all straining. The couple we interrupted right before their climatic moment looked ready to die - physically die - not out of embarassment but out of incompletion.

"That's gotta be painful." Lester grinned, laughter in his voice. I had to agree.

The three men got busy, and I tried to watch backs while they got everyone gathered together and hussled out the door. A van was waiting to take them to Detox. Once the apartment was empty, Lester and Tank still downstairs herding the sheep into vans, Ranger turned and looked at me. His eyes were dark and I realized that he was hot and bothered too.

"Shame you're engaged." he told me, his voice strained. He pulled me to him and I could feel his tension, and physical excitement, against my body. My knees went weak. He bent to kiss me then shook his head sharply and set me back. "Shit. Bad idea. Later." he said, and then continued to survey the room. I put a pair of gloves on and started to pick my way through the room as Lester and Tank returned. "The van is on its way." Tank told Ranger, and grabbed a garbage bag. I grabbed one too and started to work my way through the three inch layer of garbage covering the floor. The apartment was disgusting. It reeked of smoke and sex, both stale and fresh. I filled one bag and stood to toss it out the door.

As I grabbed another Lester grabbed me around the waist and pulled me to him. "Never seen the boss so hot and bothered by such a scene before. Must be your presence." he whispered cheerfully to me. I turned and gave him a mutinous glare, and he backed away grinning, hands raised. I turned and continued to clean.

"Stephanie." Ranger's voice was soft and quiet. "Come here." I had noticed Ranger approaching a room with a closed door, and noticed that it was locked when he tried it. Now he was standing in the doorway to that room. I stood up and left my trash bag where it was, walking over to him. He took up the whole doorway, so I stood behind him on tippy toes again, and peeked over his shoulder...again.

The room was neat, or as neat as it could be. The floor wasn't sparkling clean, but it was clear of the garbage that littered the rest of the apartment. There was a mattress on the floor with three blankets on it. A desk with a few school books. DORA and Spongebob posters on the wall. And in the back corner, huddled on the mattress, was a teenage girl holding tight to a young child. The young child was crying softly. The teenager had a defiant, but scared expression. She was silent.

"Who are you." Ranger asked, his voice quiet and cold. The young child looked up at him and cried harder, burrowing her face in the teenager's shoulder. The teenager looked at him, showing more fear now than before. "Are you on anything." he demanded.

"Ranger." I said softly, squeezing his shoulder. He glanced back at me. "Go." I told him. I wanted to talk to her alone. He nodded tightly and turned, searching my face for a minute.

"Caution." he told me, and walked past me and into the rest of the apartment. I closed the door behind me, gun in hand, and moved to the middle of the room.

"Don't hurt my sister." The teenager stated.

"We won't hurt anyone." I told her.

"What happened out there?"

"House cleaning." I said. "They're all gone to detox. You should go too. It's better for you."

"I'm not on anything. Neither is she." her tone was defiant. I holstered my gun in the gunbelt.

The little girl had turned to look at me.

"What're your names?" I asked. They were silent. "Why are you guys here?" I tried again.

"We live here."

"Not a good place to live."

"Not much choice. My mother's apartment. And I can't get away with taking my sister with me when I go. I won't let her be hurt." the teenager said defiantly.

I looked around at the walls. "Dora, huh?" I asked. I wasn't really up to par with kids shows, but I know Val had Lisa watching Dora at times. "She's an explorer, isn't she?" I said. The little girl looked at me, eyes wide and tearful. "She has a lot of adventures, right?" The little girl nodded. "How old are you? Maybe you're old enough for an adventure." The child held up five fingers.

"Izzy, be quiet." the teenager warned.

"It's alright." I told her. "But the apartment is being cleared out. Do you have anywhere else to go?"

"Do you think we'd be here if we did?" the teenager shot back.

I was about to answer when the door cracked open. Ranger handed me a couple of garbage bags. "Clear this room too." he told me. "Find out if the kids have anywhere to go."

"Yeah, right." The teenager said again. "As if we'd be here if we did."

"I'll call social services." Ranger sighed.

"No!" The older girl's expression changed from petulant to frantic.

"No NO NO NO NO." the five year old chanted, turning back to cling to her sister, sobbing again.

"Fuck Ranger." I turned to him. "Do you mind?"

"Steph."

"No. Leave it to me, alright. And bring me a box, bags will wreck some of their stuff."

The teenager looked at me. "Why would you worry about wrecking our stuff?" she asked, as the door closed.

"Why should we trash your stuff?" I countered. "Get up and pack up everything you want to keep. Don't forget your school books." I said. The girl nodded, and untangled her sister from her arms and setting her on the mattress. While the girl packed up a few toys, and books, I pulled the posters off the wall and careful rolled them up. I really didn't know how to deal with kids, and was feeling really uncomfortable. As I rolled the last poster I felt a tug on my shirt. I looked down to see the five year old.

"What's your name, sweetie?" I asked gently, crouching down to her level.

"Isabel." she whispered, chewing on a finger.

"That's a very pretty name, Isabel." I said. "We're going to help you and your sister find a new home, ok?" I told her, and she nodded.

"Mommy's friends are bad. Mommy's friends hurted Aly before. When Aly was little. Aly said they won't hurt me as long as Aly's there. I don't want to leave Aly." she was working her way to tears again. Shit. I don't know how to deal with five year olds, let alone scared, emotional ones. "Will Aly stay with me and keep me safe?"

I heard a sound from the doorway, and saw Ranger's head in the door. His eyes were dark, murderous. The older girl, presumably Aly, was standing frozen in the center, staring at her sister.

"Izzy. I told you it's a secret." she said, her voice stricken.

"We'll keep you safe." I told Isabel. She nodded, green eyes sad and solemn. My heart was breaking. "Why don't you help me pack your stuff, Isabel?" She nodded again. She turned and picked something up, handing it to me.

"Aly's riding whip." she whispered. "For the racehorses." I turned to the girl.

"You ride?" Ranger asked, before I could voice the same. The teenager shrugged. "For what barn?" She shrugged again.

"Do you know Windy?" I tried. Her eyes widened.

"I have no reason to trust you guys." she stated flatly.

"Here's the deal." Ranger told her, treating her like an adult. I liked this. He was trying to keep from being too forbidding, but still not treat her like she had no choices. I think I understood what he was getting at. "Steph will help you guys pack anything you want to keep. We'll move it to my truck. When we're done here, and the apartment is completely clean, we'll head to the racetrack and find Windy. You can go to work and I'll see if Windy can help us figure out what to do with you two."

"No social services." The teenager demanded. "I can't be separated from Izzy."

"We'll see what we can do." I told her. Ranger went back to the living room, and the girls and I finished boxing stuff while Izzy chattered about Dora and Adventures.


	13. Chapter 13

This chapter is only fluffy filler, working our way towards things and whatnot, but I actually had a LOT of fun with it. It should satisfy those of you who are tired of dark and angsty.

I am hoping that this warning is justified, but I would like to warn against reading this when there are impressionable pets present. Wouldn't want to traumatize Stayce's cat any further than bowlingforshrimp and I already have J

Like I said, I hope that warnings justified. I laughed buckets while I wrote it.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Sadly. I really want Ranger for myself. I wish he'd just suck it up and let himself be batnapped. I keep promising him he won't regret it, but he doesn't' believe me. Men. So he, and most of the characters, belong to the wonderful JE. Someday, maybe I'll be able to batnap them all. Ranger first. Yummy Yum Yum.

Chapter 13

"Buckle up." Ranger commanded to the two girls in the backseat. Isabel was strapped into a booster seat. I don't even want to know how Ranger managed that one. It was 6:30 and we were headed to the racetrack. That drive only took about 5 minutes. Ranger parked and "Aly" signed us in, Isabel tagging along behind her, but ahead of us, one hand still half stuffed in her mouth. She looked around, wide-eyed.

We walked towards the backside and the Aly took Isabel's hand and turned right.

"Not so fast." Ranger said, grabbing her wrist. "First we go find Windy." We turned left instead, and Ranger led the way to Jake's barn. His assumption was right, and Windy was sprawled in the office-stall chatting with Jake about their morning plans.

"Querida." Ranger called softly, getting her attention. She looked over at him, surprise and confusion flitting across her face.

"What's up?" she asked, looking from Ranger, to Aly, to Isabel, and then to me, before looking back at Ranger, a slight frown wrinkling her face.

"Who?" Ranger asked, inclining his head towards Aly.

"Alyse Matthews. She rides for Johnny Carson. What happened?"

"She needs a new home."

"And a new employer." Jake muttered from the background. Windy glared back at him, then turned back to Ranger.

"Ok... So..."

Ranger turned to Alyse and looked at her for a minute. It was a long, silent minute. For the first time, emotion was plain on the teenager's face - blatant fear for herself and her sister. Finally, Ranger sighed.

"Steph and I will keep Isabel with us. I'll take her back to Rangeman with me and let her spend the day with my housekeeper, Ella, while I try to figure out where you guys are going to live. What time are you done in the barns?"

"Noon or so. Isabel can stay with me."

"Isabel needs to go sleep. But we'll stay for a while, until she's ready to go."

"That's not a good idea, Carlos." Windy spoke up, then dropped her tone to a whisper. "Probably a bad thing if it's noticed that you're with Carson's employee's sister."

"We'll deal with that backlash if we need to. For now, making sure the girls are comfortable with this is more important." Ranger told her.

Apprehensive, Alyse knelt down in front of her sister. "Are you ok with Miss Stephanie Izzy?" she asked. The little girl nodded gravely. "Ok. You can watch some of the horses, and then you're going to go with Stephanie and I'll see you tonight."

Isabel's lower lip quivered. "Promise you'll see me again?" she asked.

"Promise."

"You'll see your sister this afternoon, Izzy." Ranger said quietly. There was a tone in his voice I had never, ever heard before, and the child responded to it very well, looking up at him and nodding seriously.

"K." she said, and her fingers went back into her mouth.

"I'm late, gotta run." Alyse said, hugging her sister tightly and then stepping back. She turned and jogged out of the barn.

Ranger looked at Windy. "I gotta get down to the track." she told him. "But later today you'd better tell me what that was about."

"That kid a good kid?"

"Yes. She's clean, hard working, and honest."

"Thanks for the intel." He told her. Windy nodded and headed out the barn with Jake and the first horse she had to ride.

"We going to watch Aly ride?" Izzy spoke up after tugging on my shirt.

"For a little while." I said. We walked a few steps before Ranger stopped and looked down at the child. It was slow going with her tagging along. And Ranger didn't like to move at a snails pace.

"Want a ride?" He asked her. She looked at him. Ranger sighed, looking uncomfortable, and held his arms towards the girl. She looked at him a minute longer and stepped forward.

"Piggy back." She said. Ranger swung her up onto his shoulders in one easy motion, and looked at me, his expression pained. The little girl looked adorable on his back, her blonde curls framing her face, cherub cheeks and pale little hands placed on top of Ranger's dark head. She looked on top of the world, and Ranger looked...cute.

"My image is gone to shit, isn't it?" he asked me. I grinned and nodded.

"And don't say the S word in front of the c-h-i-l-d." I admonished, still grinning. Ranger cringed.

We walked to the track, I'm sure a picture of family bliss. I cringed at that idea.

"You and me both, Babe."

We sat at our usual bench, and Ranger dumped Izzy in my lap. Izzy snuggled in and rested her head on my shoulder, watching the horses.

"Pretty horsies." she whispered at one point. "Aly rides the pretty horsies." she told me.

"How long has Aly been riding?" I asked her.

"A while. Aly rides for Mr. Carson. Mommy owes Mr. Carson stuff. So Aly has to work for him." she twisted around and whispered in my ear.

Ranger leaned forward and whispered back into hers. "We can't talk about Mr. Carson here. That's a secret. When we leave you can tell us about that, ok?"

"Ok." she whispered, and nodded seriously. She was too serious, a five year old shouldn't be so solemn. It hurt my heart. She snuggled back against my shoulder and I put my arms around her, cuddling her. We watched Alyse and Windy both ride a couple more horses, and Izzy's breathing slowly slowed. And then she fell asleep. I watched Windy ride, fluidity and grace, and thought about our morning. It was odd, the coincidences that led us down a path. Carson's employee and his sister become our responsibility, albeit temporarily, during a routine house-cleaning job that was completely unrelated. And I, Stephanie Plum, woman who could easily win the "most awkward around children" award, was cuddling a sleeping five year old and feeling...something. It was warm, and fuzzy, and I wasn't sure I liked it. I didn't want to let her go. I wanted to protect her from the world. I wanted to put a smile on her sad little face. I wanted to give her the world and make sure she never had a reason to be sad again. I wanted to walk in the park with her on Ranger's shoulders. I was going maternal.

"Shit." Ranger said quietly from beside me. "Don't go doing that. Next thing you know you'll want to be pregnant."

"I could always do that." I pointed out. Morelli would love it if I announced I wanted to be pregnant. Way to make me quit my job, and become the housewife he wants. I swallowed an uneasy feeling. Maybe I don't want a child. There goes the maternal instinct. Just gotta think about a baby with Morelli. I wasn't ready for a baby with Joe yet. Definitely not.

"You could." Ranger agreed.

"Or not." I shrugged.

"I could help." he offered. Nah, I thought. I baby with Ranger was no different than a baby with Morel...wait.. A baby with Ranger. Shit. That sounded like a grand plan. No. No. No. No.

"NO babies." I sighed.

"You don't sound so sure about that."

"I'm sure. Very sure. End of subject." I was starting to panic. "Besides. Maybe I can just keep Izzy."

"Right. A five year old and a teenager. And a hamster and a dog. And you and Morelli. I can see it now." Ranger's eyes were laughing.

"Jerk. It's not funny." I smacked at his shoulder, then went back to cuddling Izzy. I could enjoy it while it lasted, right?

Lost in the warmth of snuggling with a five year old, with the stacato of galloping hooves lullabyeing in the background, I started to doze, resting on Ranger's shoulder. I didn't come back to reality until I heard Windy snort.

"Well isn't this the picture of sweetness and light." she laughed, eyes twinkling. Ranger glared at her. I opted for safe, and didn't react, just carefully leaned up without jostling Isabel and looked out towards the track again.

"We should get back to the office." Ranger said. "Get Izzy settled with Ella for the day."

"I'll bring Alyse by after we're done. Easier that way." Windy offered. Ranger nodded.

"Stay safe." he told her, and he stood, offered me a hand up and then gently took the sleeping child from me, cuddling her to his chest as her small arms crept around his neck. I wished desperately for a camera. The picture was so tender. All of my maternal instincts came back with a vengeance. I wanted a child. With THIS man.

Oh Shit.

"Babe." Ranger shook his head.

000

"Where's Aly?" Izzy asked sleepily as she started to wake up. We were in the Rangeman parking lot and Ranger was just lifting her out of the booster-carseat he had magically acquired earlier.

"At work." Ranger told her.

"Where am I?"

"At my office." he told her, lifting her out and shutting the door. He turned and headed towards the building.

"Are you going to be my dad?" She asked from his arms, when we were halfway to the elevator. Ranger glanced over at me, shock, horror, and fear in his expression. Wow. A situation where he didn't know what to do. I grinned at him.

"Nah." I told her, rescuing Ranger. "He's Batman."

"He's a superhero?" the little girls eyes widened. "Batman." she breathed.

"Yup." I told her. "He can fly from the tops of buildings, swoop down and save little girls from mean people. And then he flies home with the little girl under his wing, treats her like a princess, and goes back out to save the world." I kept my face averted from Ranger - I have a healthy enough fear of him to not want to know when I'm making him mad. This is, in fact, how I view Ranger, most of the time. Everytime I get into a bad situation, Ranger swoops in with a vengeance and rescues me from my latest predicament, and everything is well and safe again. That's why he's MY hero. Even though really, he isn't a hero. Really, he is just a totally awesomely wonderful man.

"Does he make the bad guys go away forever?"

"You betcha. He makes them go away with his bare hands."

"No Gun?" she asked, as we waited for the elevator.

"He's batman, remember? He doesn't need a gun. Superhero's have superpowers and they fly in, go "kazaam!" and everything's safe again." I stated. The elevator doors had opened while I was telling Izzy this, and I whipped my head around when I heard chuckling. Shit. Tank and Lester. Ranger's face was a blank mask. Pretty sure I was dead.

We got into the elevator, as Tank and Lester exited. Ranger hit six and we waited as the elevator climbed steadily. We got out and he knocked on the one door on the sixth floor. Seconds later Ella's head peeked out.

"Ranger. What can I do for you? And who is this?" she asked, lifting a curl and peeking at Isabel's face."

"Ella, this is Isabel. I found her and her sister during a job and they needed to be relocated. Her sister's at work right now and we'll sort out the situation when she's off the clock. I was hoping you wouldn't mind babysitting for a day while we get things sorted out."

"Oh, this little angel is more than welcome here." Ella smiled at all three of us. She held her arms out. "I was thinking I'd do some baking today. How would you like to help?" Isabel's nodded, wide-eyed. Ranger put her down and Ella took her hand. "You leave us girls, and we'll be just fine." she told RAnger, then turned and led Isabel inside.

"So you're name is Isabel, huh?"

"You can call me Izzy." the girl said in a soft whisper, as the door closed in front of us.

"Well." I said, as Ranger turned to look at me. "That went well."

Ranger crooked an arm around my neck and hauled me to his side, his forearm hanging loosely, hand curling loosely on my breast. "What are your plans for the morning? I need you to meet here at noon with Windy and Alyse."

"No plans for the morning. Got anything in mind?"

"Maybe." We got in the elevator and he used his keyfob to send it up to the seventh floor.

"Why're we going here?" I asked him. "The control room is in the other direction."

We exited the elevator, Ranger's arm still hooked around my neck. "I've got some time on my hands. Thought maybe we could get a start on that baby you wanted."

I froze, and my heart stopped in my chest. I couldn't speak, I couldn't breathe. My lungs screamed. Ranger's arm tugged me forward again, head first. I found my voice again, and laughed shakily. "You're just funning me. Getting me back for the superhero stuff. Haha. So what're we really doing?"

"Babe." Ranger pulled me up against his body and looked at me, directly in the eyes. His eyes molten pools, expression deadly serious. "I don't fun." Reaching around me with one arm, he turned the key in the lock and swung the apartment door open.

Oh.

Shit.

Morelli's.

Gonna.

Kill me.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14. Same disclaimera s always – the batnapping of Ranger has yet to prove successful, and the characters all belong to JE, except Windy, trackcrap, Alyse, and Izzy.

0000

I panicked. I twisted, ducked underneath Ranger's arm, and hightailed it for the elevator. I hit the button repeatedly as the doors immediately swung open, thank god for small favors, and I bolted inside. "Gotta go to the bonds office!" I hollered. I repeated my button procedure to the door-close button to force it closed, and then jabbed the button for the parking garage, my breathing coming in frantic pants. I could hear Ranger's sharp laughter follow me down.

As I drove to the bonds office I still had Ranger's deep, joyous laughter ringing in my ears. I had only ever heard him laugh like that once - when I had told him about how Lula, Connie and I tried to persuade Anton Ward to talk, but how it turned out none of us had the wherewithal to follow up with the persuasion needed to bring about speech in the little cretin. And that time, he tried to contain his laughter, but failed. And then at mama macaroni's funeral, his laughter was silent, the rumbling in his chest my only clue. This time, though..this time he had just let it loose. It actually warmed my heart, even more than the frantic beating it was doing after Ranger's ridiculous proposal.

I mean, he wasn't serious. He couldn't be. His love didn't come with a ring. That means no commitment, and no added responsibility. And, like Julie, a baby would be a responsibility for him. His moral code was too strong to turn away from that. And he wouldn't turn away from ME long enough to stay out of the baby's life. So he definitely wasn't serious.

I drove, much more relaxed after that analysis. Then, as I stopped for a light on Hamilton, a couple of blocks before the office, a niggling thought entered my head. No. He wasn't serious. Was he?

"Hey girls." I swung into the office. "I bear gifts." I plunked the big McDonald's bag I had picked up on the way over down on Connie's desk. I definitely needed McDonald's to think this mess through.

"Woohoo, girl, you are Lula's best friend." Lula made it from the couch to the desk in nanoseconds. Who knew she could move that fast? She dug through the bag and placed fries and big mac containers on the desk. Melvin looked up from the filing.

"Brought some for you too, Pickle-boy." I told Melvin. He grinned and came over to join us.

"So, girl, where you been hiding?" Lula asked around a bite of her first big mac.

"Um..." I said. I wasn't sure I wanted to explain a day at the beach with Ranger and Windy - odd threesome that was, or Ranger's relationship with Windy. OR yesterday's emotionally charged issues with Ranger, OR everything else going on. And I certainly didn't want to explain Ranger's offer to give me a baby.

Hell, is there anything that man WON'T give me?

I mean, other than open access to his heart. I sighed inwardly.

"Just surveillance work and breifings on Carson."

"Get Carson's ass back in jail." Vinnie screamed through his door. "My ass is on the line!"

"Gonna kill that disgusting little Bat-rastard." Connie growled, diving under her desk to search for bugs. Again.

"So you gonna take Ol' Lula out bounty huntering today?"

"Um... not so sure I"ll be bounty hunting today." I told her. Not when we had to deal with Alyse and Isabel, and Windy, and Carson, and whatever information we could glean from the fact that Alyse is associated with Carson, as well as any fallout due to that association. Shit. This could get ugly. "Maybe tomorrow. Today, Ranger and I have more to do on the search for Carson."

Lula was about to protest when her face went slack. Connie looked up and her eyes glazed over. My body pinged to attention as I felt, rather than saw, Ranger walked through the door.

"Babe." he whispered in my ear, voice seductively lilting.

"Batman." I simpered back, infusing as much sickening sweetness in my voice as I could muster. Lula looked at me as if it was my last moments on earth.

"I'll take the rest of your fries." she told me, grabbing for them.

"Excuse me?" I snatched them away, diverting my attention from Ranger.

"Well, it'd be shame to waste them on account of Ranger's gonna kill you now." she said. I saw a gleam in Ranger's eye as he caught mine for a second before heading into Vinnie's office. I scarfed down my fries and the last half of my burger before Lula could get to them. Connie continued to look for the bug, gun in hand, and Lula contributed a steady stream of dialogue about how batman was gonna kill me, or maybe just send me to die in a third world country far a way from tastykakes and McDonalds.

A few minutes later Ranger exited Vinnie's office and wrapped a warm hand around the back of my neck. "Babe. Outside." he told me. Lula went white - or as white as a black woman could go. Pretty sure she was planning her speech at my funeral. As he walked past Connie, slowed almost imperceptibly. "Check the smoke alarm." he told her. She nodded and headed to the wall by the door.

"Nice knowin' ya, Steph. Gonna miss ya." Lula called. As we walked out the door, I heard a shot, and Vinnie swear. Blasted bugs.

I squeaked as Ranger pulled me into the back alley, and pressed me against the wall. "So." he said, searching my face, his eyes warm and laughing. "How dead do you want to be?"

000000

Well, luckily, Ranger likes my face, and body, the way it is - warm and alive. So while i Found myself thoroughly - and I do mean thoroughly - kissed in the alleyway, I emerged from it whole and hearty.

Tank had dropped Ranger off, so we both had to travel back to Rangeman in my car. Ranger stuck his hand in my pocket and dug the keys out, one finger deliberately playing on my hip. He beeped the neon open and we climbed in.

"So." I asked him, as we cruised back towards Rangeman. "You were joking about the baby, right?"

"You're the one who said you wanted a baby." he raised an eyebrow, but kept driving.

Who knew Batman had wit. "Ok, let me rephrase that. You were joking about helping me out with that idea, right?"

"Babe." Ranger said. And that was it. Silence prevailed the rest of the way. I was really worried about it, though. I'm not so sure I wanted a baby. But I definitely wanted sex with Ranger. But I'm engaged to Morelli for crissake. I hoped he was joking. I didn't want to have to fend off advances all the time. Next thing I knew, we were back on Haywood Street. We parked in the garage and I hit the door locks before he could get out. He raised an eyebrow at me and unlocked the doors, and I snapped them locked again before he could open it.

"Babe." he said on a sigh.

"Tell me you were joking." I demanded.

"You know I wasn't joking." he told me, looking me square in the eyes. "You also know I won't do anything nonconsensual." Yeah, like it would take much to get me to consent. Another kiss like the one at the bonds office and I'd be getting naked with him in the middle of the street. The burg would know before the first orgasm, and be lined up to watch an hour before the last. I blew out a sigh and hit the doors unlocked. We got out and Ranger beeped the car shut, handing me my keys. His fingers caressed my hand, decidedly intimate, as he dropped them in my palm. He led the way to the elevator, and the conference room on second. Windy and Alyse were already inside.

000000000

"Ladies." Ranger said, striding to the head of the table. He slouched in the chair, hands lightly fisted and placed hip-width apart on the table. "How was your morning?"

"Good. Safe." Windy answered.

"Where's my sister?" Alyse demanded. Her pretty young face was marred with tight lines.

"With my housekeeper. Safe and happy. Now. Why were you in that apartment?"

"We lived there."

"No shit. Who lived there that you werea ssociated with?"

"My mother."

"Whose apartment was it?" Ranger asked, his voice brittle. The girl was beign deliberately obtuse, answering at bare minimum and it was obvious, to me at least, that Ranger wasn't appreciative.

"My mother's." Only teenagers could pull off such bored, petulant, caustically toned sentences in three words or less.

"Why do you work for John Carson?"

"Why not?" she shot back.

"Look." I interrupted before Ranger could keep on. "We're trying to help you. You have to cooperate or we can't do that. And if we c an't help you then social services is your only option."

The girl sighed. Ranger continued. "Izzy said you ride for Carson because your mother owes him."

"Shit." her face paled. 'Look. My mom owes him money. Drugs or something. Maybe something worse. I don't wanna think about it. If I don't ride for him - and I'm lucky that riding is all I have to do so far - she'll give him Izzy. Izzy could be full payment but-" Alyse started to choke. I sucked back my own horrified reaction and looked at Ranger, whose face was blank.

"How much does she owe him?" He asked.

"I don't know. Her life. My life. Izzy's life."

"Who is his contact while he's out of town?"

"Ferrin." Windy and Alyse answered at the same time.

Ranger pulled out his phone and hit a button. "Contact Miles Ferrin. Find out how much money Alyse Matthews' mother owes John Carson." He snapped the phone shut, slouched further, and steepled his fingers, drumming them together, elbows on the table. He looked over his fingers at Alyse, still silent. She squirmed under scrutiny.

"Here's the deal. First we get you out from under Carson's thumb. I have an open apartment on the fourth floor you and Isabel can stay in for now. You will not bring alcohol, drugs, or friends from that side of town onto the premises. Friends you do want to bring will be pre-authorized, by me. You will be silent about where you live. You will not do drugs. You will go to school - I assume you are enrolled. -"

"Not a good school." Alyse shook her head. "Lots of gangs. I'd rather homeschool."

"We'll find a new school. Look at schooling options once we figure out signing authority. You will no longer work at the track. You -" Ranger stopped as Alyse gasped. He looked at her, one eyebrow raised.

"I want to work at the track. I love riding. It's my release."

Windy cut in, voice firm. "You'll ride for me, and Jake. No one else." She stated.

"That's acceptable." Ranger agreed. "You will help Ella with the housework for as long as you are staying here. That will cover your rent. Stephanie and I will be going to speak with some associates, and, if need be, social services. DO NOT INTERRUPT." He added coldly, as Alyse jerked in her chair. "Stephanie and I will talk to them, and see what can be arranged. Unless you fuck up, you will not have to leave here. Once someone has temprary guardianship we will set you up with school. You will be able tow ork at the track on two conditions: Your schoolwork must be completed satisfactorily, and you are to have no contact with Carson. If your paths cross for any reason you are to call myself, Steph, or Windy. You are to avoid him."

"No hardship there." the girl mumbled.

"We will work something out, but I expect your full cooperation and help around here." He finished. Alyse nodded.

"If you're serious I will do anything." she stated.

"You trust me now?" Ranger asked her, one eyebrow raised again.

"No." She answered. "But I hardly have any better options."

Ranger appraised her for a minute and stood. "Let's go get Isabel. I will show you to the apartment. The men have already brought your stuff up. What is your relationship with your mother?"

"She's a selfish fucking bitch with no conscience who is so concerned about her next high that she is willing and able to whore out both of her daughters, one who isnt' even in kindergarten yet, for drugs. IF I never see her again, it's too soon."

Ranger's jaw clenched and twitched. I slipped my hand in his as we entered the elevator and squeezed it. He squeezed back. "You will no longer have contact with her."

The girl nodded.

We got off on six and Ranger knocked. Ella's footsteps sounded, along with running little thuds of five year old feet, and the door opened. "Ranger." she said.

"Mr Ranger Mr Ranger we made chocolate chip cookies!" Izzy chanted. Her face was one brilliant smile. She was cleaned up and happy, and looked nothing like the child we dropped off this morning. My heart soared. Alyse looked stricken, near tears. At Izzy's urging we all filed in to Ranger's appartment for cookies.

"Miss Ella helped me make them." Izzy said proudly, holding the plate Ella handed her in two hands. She stepped forward. "Try one Aly." she said. Tears running down her face, a haunting smile also gracing it, the teenager did just that. Izzy made her rounds around the group of us, stopping last at Ranger. "You too Mr. Ranger." she said softly, gracing him with a beaming grin.

And for a blonde haired green-eyed pixie, Ranger sullied the temple with three chocolate chip cookies.


	15. Chapter 15

Well, it was time for an update. Lol. So here is Chapter 15.

As always, I am borrowing most of this from JE, and make nothing from it. The plan to batnap Ranger is becoming more complex, though.

And, warning for language.

**Chapter 15**

"That went well." I commented, as Ranger and I walked out of the building where Social Services was located. We'd spent the last hour and a half explaining the situation, pointing out that the girls would not be separated and we would be more than willing to sign on as guardians. It took a lot of persuading and arguing to get them to concede to temporary guardianship. The problem was, they really didn't seem to think that a man who owned his own security company, who employed so many men, could provide a safe home for a little girl and a young adult.

"I have a housekeeper. And Stephanie will be very active in helping with them." Ranger told the woman. I tried not to let my shock show - I had never agreed to that! Ranger squeezed my hand.

"And you and Stephanie are...?"

"Good friends. Partners. Co-workers." Ranger supplied.

"Engaged?" the dour faced woman we were talking to looked at my hand.

"To another man." I supplied.

"So how, exactly, is a home with no stable family going to be beneficial to these two children?"

"Look." Ranger said, his jaw clenched. "I didn't say it was a normal family situation. I said these kids will not tolerate a home. They WILL run. And they won't be found. And they will be in more danger on the streets."

"Alyse already acts like an adult. She works, she raises Isabel. At least this way both girls can go to school, and stay together."

"We can keep them together in a home." the woman scoffed.

"They will run." Ranger said. "I've made an agreement with the girl. This is a formality. You put them in a home, they will run."

"So we label them high risk."

Ranger looked at her in disbelief. "Do you realize that we are two people willing to keep these girls, at no cost to the state? Why would you give that up in exchange for putting them in a home where you will have to pay through the roof to keep them? If they even stay?"

"And why do you think that you two can provide any kind of stability for these girls?"

"They've never had stability before. We can hardly do worse." Ranger was quiet and calm, but I could tell his patience was wearing thin. "The oldest is seventeen. Old enough to walk away by choice."

"Well, then you can keep the oldest but the youngest will be put in a home."

"If the older girl even thinks they'll be split up, she'll take her little sister and disappear." I told the woman. "She's protected her this long, she'll keep doing it."

"Let us try it." Ranger said. "Send someone to evaluate our situation today. Check up on us tomorrow, in a week, two weeks, every second day, however often you feel you need to. If you have issues, requests, or feel something needs to be different, let us know. We will do whatever we need to to make this work. These girls need to be somewhere safe, and we offer the most secure option available. They lived in a bad situation and the oldest worked in a worse one. She has major trust issues, she will not stay somewhere she doesn't feel is safe. She won't feel in control in a conventional foster home, and she will run."

"She's not supposed to be in control. She's a kid."

"She's gotten as far as she has because she stays in control."

"So you'll let her run rampant?"

"Of course not!" Ranger shook his head. "I gave her a choice. A safe place to stay if she plays by my rules. She is willing to stay at Rangeman. She is not inclined to trust."

"So what makes you think she'll stay there?" The woman asked. It was obvious that she didn't really care for things, still.

"Her little sister and my housekeeper baked cookies. She got back from her job -"

"She will be quitting that job, I'm assuming?" The woman interrupted.

"Changing employers. She'll work with a good friend of mine and be a lot safer." Ranger answered, before continuing. "She saw Isabel, happy with cookies she baked herself, and it made her realize that she could have what she is missing there, from people who want to give it to her. My housekeeper is terrific and she will be a huge influence on the girls. Steph, and Emily will also be involved in their daily life."

The woman finally agreed to let the girls stay while they sorted through other options, and made sure the legalities went through for Ranger and me to have signing authority to get them into a better school. When we walked out of there we were still on shaky ground, but at least it was a start.

"So that went well." I repeated.

"I hope you're being sarcastic, babe."

"Well...at least they stay for now. Maybe they'll be slow enough that Alyse will be eighteen by the time they get through everything."

"Wishful thinking." Ranger shook his head. "But it is a start. And we'll do what we have to for the girls. It might mean a home, but we can at least keep contact with them if it does. Make sure they're safe."

We got into the Turbo and drove off in silence. Ranger was in his zone, and I was thinking a mile a minute, as always. I thought about how Ranger acted with Izzy, and towards her, and the perseverence he was showing to making sure they lived at Rangeman. Truth is, I really thought that he would be inclined to just get them put in a home. I knew that part of his insistence was the promise he made to Alyse, but why did he make that promise? It just didn't seem like a Ranger thing to do, and it seemed like a lot to be doing just for the connection to Carson.

"You're taking an awfully big interest in these kids." I commented.

"I want to see them safe. Last thing they need is to wind up in the porn ring. Or on the street again." Ranger shrugged.

"Yeah, but why not just let them go to a foster home? Not that I think you should, or anything." I added hastily. It was just that that seemed more like what Ranger would do.

"They're good kids, babe. And they've got a hell of a lot of potential. Alyse could, and should, have turned out a lot worse than she did. It's a miracle she's sitting at Rangeman, clean, not on anything. I grew up surrounded by people like that, kids like that. And the ones that come out of it in one piece are rare. I'd hate to see her, or Izzy, fall through the cracks. I'd hate for them to wind up on the streets again."

"What do you think will happen if they do go into a home? Will they run?"

"Yes."

"Do you think maybe they'd run to Windy? Then Alyse would keep working at the track and..."

"Maybe, but that's not the place for Isabel. Ella and Louis will go down to Social Services and petition for the girls if they need to."

"Ella told you that?" I asked.

"Yes." Ranger said again. I was shocked at that admission, that he'd already spoken to Ella about the girls. And I was amazed. We really were going all out to try and keep them. Even though the last thing any of us needed was to try to raise two kids.

"Alyse won't be difficult, babe." Ranger said, reading my mind again. I rolled my eyes. "She's already basically grown up." he finished.

My day ended with the visit to social services. We did stop at the burg schools to enroll the two girls; Isabel in kindergarten and Alyse in 12th grade at my old high school, before heading back to Rangeman.

"I've gotta go out for a while. Can you stay with the girls now, and tonight? I want you to make sure they're settled." Ranger asked, as we walked to the elevator. Unsaid was that he also wanted to make sure they didn't try to run.

"Sure." I said.

He hit a button to scramble the cameras, and pulled me to him, and kissed me. It was a gentle, sweet kiss. He trailed a finger down my cheek and smiled into my eyes. "You're something special, babe." he said. He touched his lips to mine one more time, and then turned and headed to his truck, unscrambling the cameras as he walked. I leaned against the wall for a minute before hitting the button for the elevator, and heading to the fourth floor.

We were watching Lilo and Stitch on DVD later that night, both girls looking like it was the most amazing invention, when my cell rang.

"You're not at home again, Cupcake?" Joe asked quizzically. "That bored?"

"Oh yeah. My life is one big doldrum." I sighed.

"You're at Ranger's again, aren't you?" Joe questioned, worry creeping into his tone.

"Yes and No. I'm at Rangeman, but I'm not at Rangers."

"Where are you, then?"

"A fourth floor apartment."

"Christ Cupcake, you got crazies after you again?"

"No..." I said, and then I Told him about Alyse and Izzy and everything that had happened.

"You've been busy." Joe said wryly.

"Yup."

"Listen Cupcake, I gotta run, but I wanted to tell you I'll be home in a couple of days, if things go well. Plan for the night?" His hopeful question rang in my ears. I smiled.

"Definitely."

"Love you, cupcake." Joe said.

"I l-l-l-" I stumbled over the l on purpose. "love you too." I finished, grinning.

"You are such a dope." Joe said affectionately, a smile in his voice. And disconnected.

I had just settled back into the couch when the phone rang again. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and the ringtone gave it away. "Yo." I answered.

"Babe. You're stealing my lines." I was amusing batman again.

"Batman. Who said they were yours?" I bantered back. I looked down when I felt a little hand on my knee.

"Is Mr. Batman going to come and visit?" Izzy asked.

"Nope. Mr Batman is not going to come visit. You, little princess, are going to bed." I told her. Alyse stood up to take Izzy to the bedroom.

"Can I say goodnight to Mr. Batman?" Izzy asked. I nodded and handed her the phone.

"Hi Mr. Batman." Izzy said in the phone. She was silent a minute. "Yes. Miss Stephanie's being good." And silence. "Yes. Alyse is tired too." and silence. "No, I'm not making Alyse stay up." And silence. "Yes, I'll go to bed." and silence. "What's a bedtime story?" More silence. Izzy looked at me. "Mr Batman said you should tell me a bedtime story." I nodded. She went back to listening to the phone. "Goodnight Mr. Batman. Thank you for saving us." She said, and handed the phone back to me.

"Babe. Think of a good bedtime story."

I thought for a minute. "Well, there was this time when Batman rescued the Intergalactic Princess from..."

"Please babe, No Batman stories."

"Batman Batman!" Izzy was chanting on our end.

I heard Ranger groan, and even heard his eyes roll. "Babe. Good luck." And he hung up.

"Go get your new PJ's on." I told her, and she scampered off. I had taken the girls shopping earlier for some basic necessities, with the Rangeman credit card Ranger handed me before leaving. I looked over at Alyse. "We'll need to talk to you about Carson some. Probably tomorrow or the next day." She nodded. "You thinking about maybe trusting us?"

"You offered us a home. And Izzy's so happy already. I've never seen Izzy smile like she did this afternoon after making cookies with Ella." Her eyes were tearing over and I forced myself not to follow suit. "I may not totally trust you guys, but I'm going to try damned hard not to fuck this up and get us kicked out. I just hope the stupid Social Services people let us stay."

"You'll be fine. You're a good kid. I'm amazed you never turned into them." I told her honestly. A tear rolled down her cheek. "Go to bed. Get some rest. Sleep well tonight. We'll take tomorrow as it comes, and do what we need to." Alyse nodded jerkily, and then headed for bed. Two seconds later Izzy came flying out of the smaller bedroom at mach fifteen.

"Story, story!" she bounced. I pulled her up into my lap and cuddled her close. She snuggled in and rested her head in the crook of my shoulder.

"What kind of story do you want?"

"I want a story about Batman."

Ok, so I'll go with my first idea. "Once upon a time there was an Intergalactic Princess. She loved her family and her friends, and her favorite thing to do was buy shoes. From the time she was a little girl, she always wanted to fly. Just like Wonder Woman." As I started, I noticed Alyse move to the doorway of the bedroom and lean against the door frame. As I continued to talk, she sank down until she was sitting in the doorway, listening, knees bent and arms looped casually over them. "One day she even tried to fly"

"Did it work?" Izzy asked.

"No..." I thought back to those sad times. "It didn't. little girls can't fly. All she did was break her arm. She was pretty sad about it. One day the Intergalactic Princess walked into a restaurant to meet Batman. She needed his help on a top secret Intergallactic mission. Batman agreed to help her and got together like Batman and Wonder Woman to find bad guys and take them back to jail. But the Intergallactic Princess had a way of finding trouble -"

"What kind of trouble?" Izzy asked.

"All kinds. She fell in garbage a lot, and her cars always went BOOM. People threw food at her and she got it all stuck in her hair and all over her clothes. She had to take lots of baths. She even got chased by animals, but she always got her man."

"Wow!" Izzy's eyes were wide with awe.

"Like I was saying. The Intergalactic Princess had a way of getting into trouble all the time. So Batman had to help her out...a lot! One time, she met a bad man who locked her away in a tower, just like Rapunzel but her hair wasn't long, only crazy wild. She was a little bit worried because she didn't know how to get out, and couldn't get the locks opened. But the Intergalactic Princess wasn't scared, because she knew that Batman would show up to rescue her. And he did. He opened the doors and she fell into his arms. Batman always rescued the princess, and the Princess knew that he always would."

"Did they live happily ever after?"

"Every day of their lives." I smiled.

"Will Mr. Batman always save us too?"

"Always." I promised for Ranger. "Come on, I'll tuck you in." I told her, and took her to the bedroom, lifting her on the bed and tucking the covers around her. She curled on her side and looked at me.

"G'night, Miss Stephanie." she mumbled, already half asleep.

I left the room to find Alyse, standing in the doorway to her room. "You got locked up?" She asked me, one eyebrow raised.

I nodded. "In a coffin. Then a cupboard."

"Man. You need to learn a thing or two." she rolled her eyes.

"Smart ass." I told her.

"I wish I could fly." she sighed, moving to turn away.

"You ride racehorses and managed to keep yourself and Izzy clean and safe despite a horrible home life. And now you're here and with Ranger behind you, you'll have every opportunity you want. You're already flying."

"I'm not as good a rider as Windy. Staying clean and putting up with addicts doesn't seem like flying to me." she shrugged.

"Getting out and taking the opportunity to make a better life for yourself and your sister certainly is." I told her softly, reaching out and touching her lightly on the shoulder. "Take what's being offered to you, appreciate it, and live by Ranger's rules - which are all for your own good, by the way - and you'll never regret it." I finished. It was kind of stupid, really, me being all philosophical, but it seemed to reassure Alyse, and...well... maybe I'd said my first meaningful thing ever. Who knows?

"Bedtime for both of us." I told her, and she nodded.

"Night." We both went our separate ways - Alyse towards the bedroom and me to the pile of blankets sitting in a chair.

"Oh, and Steph?" She called softly from behind me, as I was throwing a blanket over the couch for myself. I straightened and looked over my shoulder at her. "Thanks."


	16. Chapter 16

Ok, so it's long overdue, but here is Chapter 16.

Not much for plot advancement here, just a fun little sideshow. Although there will probably be meaning behind it later ;-)

As always, I own nothing. Except Windy, the horses, and Alyse and Izzy… ok, so I own everything in THIS chapter except Steph and Ranger. I really wish I owned Ranger. Bah Humbug. Oh well.

**Chapter 16**

"Babe." Ranger's voice whispered in my ear. I blinked up in the dark, and saw the shadow of his face inches from mine.

"Mmm. What time is it?"

"Early." He said, as he took my arm and pulled me up off the couch. I wasn't awake yet, and I swayed on my feet.

"No running." I told him, almost falling backwards. Ranger's arm snaked around my back, and he steadied me, then pulled me into him. I sighed and wrapped my arms around his waist, leaning my head on his shoulder and dozing off instantly.

"No running." He agreed, kissing me lightly on the nose. "You still have to wake up."

"Why?" I whined.

"Gotta go to the track."

"Why?" I sighed. We had just been there yesterday. I hadn't had a good night, tossing and turning, and all I wanted to do was sleep.

"Because, Babe. We have to drop Alyse off." He bent his head and kissed me, but I shoved him away, falling back to the couch in the process. I curled up on my side and closed my eyes.

"I don't have to go for that." I mumbled, and started to fall asleep again.

"Much as you'd like to think so, you're wrong." Ranger told me. I opened one eye to glare at him, and found him smirking down at me.

"Did you just say I'm WRONG?" I demanded. Ranger grinned and pulled me to my feet, then gave me a little push towards the bathroom.

"Go." He told me. "Hurry." Hmph. I still wasn't fully awake and I staggered into the bathroom. I splashed cold water on my face, and that woke me up a little bit. It didn't take long to get my hair tied back in a basic ponytail and finish up. I stumbled back out and almost ran into Alyse in the doorway.

"Morning." She told me. I narrowed my eyes at her, she looked bright-eyed and wide awake. Cheerfulness at this hour oughta be outlawed. She grinned at me and stepped into the bathroom, while I dragged myself over to where Ranger sat on the couch.

"Why?" I asked him. "Shouldn't someone stay with Izzy?"

"Izzy will go to Ella's. We're going to meet Windy." He told me. He took my hand and tugged. Not feeling very awake or balanced, I fell into his lap. He kissed my temple and enfolded me in his arms. "Ella will have coffee for us."

"Mmmm." I said, leaning against his shoulder and closing my eyes. A moment later, I shrieked when he pinched me.

"Don't fall asleep. You've got to go get Izzy."

"You go get Izzy." I grumbled, and leaned into him. I felt myself falling back asleep. I was so tired. I spent most of the night unable to slow my brain down enough to fall asleep, and had probably only gotten a couple of hours, total. Mostly, I had thought about Ranger. I snuggled deeper into his shoulder and sighed. "Mmm. You smell good." I mumbled into his neck. Ranger hugged me tighter and let me doze. Vaguely, I could feel his hands rubbing up and down my back.

"Go get Izzy." I heard his voice through my sleepy haze. "C'mon Babe. You've gotta get up." His breath was warm against my hair, and he squeezed me. I blinked up at him again and he lowered his head to capture my lips. "Morning Sleeping Beauty." he whispered against them, before standing with me and setting me on my feet. I swayed for a second but caught my balance. The corners of Ranger's mouth quirked up ever so slightly. I was amusing him. I narrowed my eyes.

"Coffee?" I asked.

"Ella will have mugs for us." Oh yeah. Right. He tucked a strand of hair that had fallen from my pony tail behind my ear. Alyse came out with a sleepy Izzy in her arms.

"Where we going?" She asked on a yawn, blinking at us. "Hi Mr. Rangebat." She held out her arms to Ranger. He shot me a glance and took her from Alyse. Izzy snuggled into Ranger's chest, already asleep again, and we headed up to the sixth floor.

A while later, as we walked down the shedrow, Ranger slung an arm over my shoulders. "You might want to get used to this." He told me. Yeah. Right. It would figure he'd make ME drive Alyse to work every morning. I took a sip of coffee and glared at him over the travel mug. He looked back at me, his eyes crinkling. Yeah. Ranger was amused, again. I ignored him as we walked to the doorway of Jake's office-stall.

"Morning!" Windy said cheerfully as she glanced up from a horse's leg she was looking over.

"Morning querida." Ranger answered.

"Mmph." was my contribution, as I sipped my coffee and sulked. Morning people. Yeesh.

"Bad night?" Windy pushed herself upright and looked at me, eyebrow raised. She grabbed a saddle out of Jake's office-stall, one of the flat ones that looked like pancakes, nothing there, and handed it to a groom. Then she pulled a big saddle down and lugged it over to another stall. "This is a western saddle. We use it on the pony horses." she explained. I hadn't asked, but hey. I filed the information away just in case I ever needed it.

Ranger slung an arm over my shoulders and I stepped away. I was still sulking. I held my mug in two hands to help keep them warm, and watched as Windy swung the saddle up onto the horse's back in one easy motion. She did him up, slipped a bit in his mouth, and left him standing in the stall.

"So." She said, coming out of the stall and swinging the door partially shut. "You still want to learn how to ride?"

I shrugged. I wasn't sure about it. Well, I wanted to, but I wanted to fly. I wasn't so sure about the learning process involved. And I didn't want to run or give up donuts...although come to think of it, I hadn't had one in a couple of days. I slanted a sideways glance at Ranger. I was feeling sugar withdrawal coming on. Maybe he could substitute. I was jolted back to reality when Windy snagged my coffee mug and shoved something else into my hands. I looked down. A helmet.

"Put that on." She told me. "Make sure it fits." She looked me up and down, then looked down at me feet, and disappeared back into the office-stall. A pair of boots flew through the air and landed at my feet. "Those too." She said. I stood there, holding the helmet, staring down at the boots. I think I stood there for a while before the helmet was taken from my hands and placed on my head. Ranger snapped the chinstrap together.

"Is there something you forgot to tell me?" I asked him, eyes narrowed. He raised an eyebrow at me and looked down at the boots.

"Better put those on." He said, knocking once on the helmet and stepped away to lean against a stall. The horse who lived in it stuck his head out and nosed Ranger's arm, then bumped him again. Ranger slanted a glance at the horse and shook his head almost imperceptibly before reading up to scratch his forehead. The horse made a wuffling noise and rested his chin on Ranger's shoulder. "Babe." He glanced back at me. "Boots."

Right. The boots. I picked them up and stepped over to a bale of hay, sat down and changed into them. A vest flew over the top of the office-stall and landed on the bale beside me. "And that." Windy's voice was muffled, and I could hear her rooting around. I inspected the vest. It looked just like a flak vest. Interesting. I pulled it on and did it up.

"Anything else?" I asked.

"Nope."

"Good. Gimme." I reached sideways towards the door, and my coffee cup reappeared in my hands. I took a big gulp, and almost choked. I finished the last little bit in the mug and looked down at it. Huh. Empty. I really needed another cup. I snuck a finger in underneath the helmet and scratched an itch on my forehead. I REALLY wanted another cup of coffee.

For once I was thankful for Ranger's ESP. He wrestled the mug out of my hand and stepped into Jake's office. "Querida, got coffee?" He came back out a minute later and trailed his finger up the back of my neck, reaching around me with one arm and placing the mug back in my hands. I guess this means I have to quit sulking.

"Thanks." I said, twisting around and looking up at him. He returned my smile with a mouth-twitch of his own, and bent to kiss the tip of my nose. He sat beside me on the bale and I leaned against him, shoulder to shoulder, sipping my coffee. It was strong coffee, and jolted me awake a lot faster than the other cup had. I squinted down at the mug. Probably a spoon would stand straight up in this.

I had almost finished the cup when Windy came out of the office-stall, and Jake walked into the shedrow. He confered with Windy and they walked down the aisle together. "She's riding today?" I heard him ask.

"Yup." Windy answered, and they stepped into a stall to confer about a horse. Oh God. This really was happening. Windy's gonna teach me how to ride racehorses. Racehorses??? Shit. She even saddled that great big horse that likes to bounce around. And he's in that itty bitty pancake of a saddle that doesn't have anything to hold on to. I was supposed to be able to stay on him? Oh God. I was going to be on my ass in the dirt before we even got to the track! And they go how fast every morning?! I...He...They... This was not going to work. I started to pull at the flak vest, and Ranger caught my hand, stilling it.

"Babe." He said quietly, squeezing my hand tightly in his. Now I couldn't get the vest off. I gulped a breath as Windy and Jake walked back towards us down the other side of the aisle.

"You out to the paddock?" He asked her.

"Yup. You'll bring Danny down?"

"Yup. See you in thirty or so." Jake nodded, and headed down the shedrow, checking horses.

"Come on." Windy said to me, and went into the stall with the pony horse. This is it. I'm going to die now. Ranger squeezed my hand and stood, pulling me to my feet with him.

"Go get em, Tiger." he told me, kissing the shell of my ear, before marching me towards Windy as she led the horse out.

"This is Salem." Windy said, gesturing me over to her. "He's one of our most seasoned pony horses, and is perfect for you to learn on. We'll head down to the paddock and I'll get you going on the basics." It was a relief to hear I'd be riding the pony horse, in that big honking saddle that looked like maybe it was impossible to fall out of. Then again, this is me we're talking about. Chances are I'd still fall. But at least I maybe had half a crap-shoot chance.

"Maybe this isn't a good idea." I said.

"You'll be fine. Come on." And Windy dragged me out of the barn, the horse following placidly beside us. I hoped Ranger stayed in the shedrow. I think I'd rather not embarass myself to death in his presence.

So this was it. My first riding lesson. We were standing in the paddock and Ranger, damn the man, was leaning on the railing, lounging like a giant cat, watching with interest. Once again, I was to be entertainment. I suppose I can be grateful that he didn't invite a legion of Merry Men to share in the amusement.

"Ok, what do I do?" I asked Windy, walking up to the horse. I reached out carefully and gave him a pat. Ok, he didn't bite my hand off, that was a start. Definitely, I think dreaming of this idea is better than actually having to try it. But, I refuse to be a coward. I do. Really. I just have to convince MYSELF of that.

"First we tighten the cinch. It's called girth on the flat saddles, though. It holds the saddle on so always check it." Windy then showed me how to tell if it was tight enough, and how to tighten it. Ok, that's easy enough. Then, we had the reins over his head and he was standing, half asleep, waiting for me to get my ass in gear and get on him. I looked up. Way up.

"You've seen Jake leg me up onto the racehorses, right?" Windy asked. I nodded. I wasn't sure I liked where this was going. "I'm going to boost you up onto his back the same way."

"How do I trust you aren't going to launch me right over his back? Or that he won't move and make me miss and land on the ground?"

"It's easy. You can actually mount on your own in this tack, but because you want to get on a racehorse, you might as well learn to leg-up right away." Windy told me. "Stand by his shoulder and bend your left leg at the knee. On three, I'll boost you. One, two, three." I waitied to jump on the count AFTER three, and Windy tried to boost me on the count of three. It was a disaster and I fell into Salem's side. He cocked one ear back at me. "Try again. When I say three, jump. One, two, Thr-" This time I bounced too soon, and Windy tried to compensate but I was on the downhill side of it and once again, bounced off of Salem's belly. Well, at least I was landing on my feet, I thought. This time he huffed a sigh, as if I was hopeless.

"Sorry, buddy." I said, patting him on the neck. It was a little bit easier to pat him, now.

"He doesn't mind. Ok, we'll try one, two, three, jump. On jump, you jump." Windy said. This time, I waited, one, two, three, and then jumped as Windy boosted, and all of a sudden I was weightless, disconnected from the world. Omigod, I hope I don't land on the other side of him. I scrambled, and landed on his back, on my belly. I hung off of him.

"Um...I don't think this worked." Oh crap, horse, please don't move...

"You have to swing your right leg over, so you're sitting on him. Grab the horn. with your left hand." I did. Windy grabbed my left leg and shoved me upwards, and in a mad scramble, during which I'm pretty sure I kicked the poor horse at least twice, I managed to swing my right leg over the back of the saddle and was sitting on the horse. The muscles in my thighs were shaking, and I could barely breathe. "It's easier in a flat saddle." Windy told me. "The back of a western saddle makes leg ups a lot more complicated." No kidding! "You ok?" she asked me. No, I wasn't, but I didn't want to tell her that. I was twenty feet off of the ground, sitting on an animal who could explode and kill me any second. Nevermind my bad luck with transportation. And a horse qualifies as transportation, right? Oh God. I don't know if I can do this.

Well, ok, so Salem hadn't so much as twitched. He just stood there, waiting for his cue to do something. I, on the other hand, was shaking like a leaf, and trying to convince myself that I could do this. I had no idea what I was doing. I saw Ranger shift position out of the corner of my eye. Well, I can't back down when Batman's around, then I'll just look like a Wuss. And Wonder Woman never looked like a Wuss.

"Ready?"

"Um..." No. I wasn't. I was never going to be ready. I was going to fall off as soon as he started moving.

"Sure you are. Here. Hold the reins like.." Windy proceeded to explain how to hold my reins, between thumb and forefinger, pinkie and ring finger...thumbs up. Ok, I can do this. I can just sit here and hold the reins and pretend I'm flying down the racetrack, right?

"Now. To go left, you -"

"Wait - I have to go somewhere?" I asked. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ranger tip his head down. Oh, this was embarrasing.

"Yeah, well, you don't gallop horses standing still." Windy grinned at me. I sighed. "So to go left, you open your left rein." She took my hand and demonstrated, pulling the rein away from the horse's neck, to the left. She repeated the procedure to the right, but then told me that on the track, steering is really just for emergencies - basically you just go around the racetrack and then turn around. Well, actually, she said it was more complicated than that but I didn't need to worry about it today. Thank God for small favors. "To go, you squeeze with your legs and think forward. To stop, sit back, lean back, and pull & release on the reins. Don't just pull - it gives them something to brace on, and racehorses see it as a cue to run."

"But he's not a racehorse, right?"

"No, but you might as well learn properly from the start. Ask him to walk forward, and then turn left." Windy told me.

Here goes nothing, I thought, squeezing him gently. Salem twitched an ear back at me but did nothing. "Do it like you mean it, you won't hurt him." Windy told me. I nodded and tried again. This time Salem took one hesitant step forward, and then another. I asked him to turn to the left, and he did. Oh wow. He's moving. Ok. I can do this. Uh oh, he's going faster. I squeezed the reins and asked him to stop. He did. Ok, I can do this too.

"That was a good walk - don't worry about him speeding it up a bit, you want him marching along, not walking on eggshells."

"Ok." I tried to say, but my stomach was flipping. I was nervous, but now I was getting excited too. I could actually do this. It wasn't even all that hard! I asked Salem to walk again and we walked around the coral for a while, changing direction whenever Windy told us to.

"Try a trot." She told me. "You squeeze him up into it, just like a walk. To slow down is the same as to stop. When you have the pace you want, quit the squeeze & release, basically. To ride the trot, you need to pick up the rhythm. It's not physically difficult, but sometimes it's tough to catch the rhythm. Once you do it'll be no problem. To follow his movement the easiest thing to do is stand and sit in the stirrups in time with the beat. One, Two, One, Two, One Two, kind of thing. Stand one one and sit on two." She told me, demonstrating on her feet on the ground. I tried it while we walked, just standing up and sitting down. Ok, probably I can do that. "The trick with riding racehorses," she told me as we walked "is to ride on your feet. So even trotting you can stand and stay standing for a bit, strengthen that. But for right now, try posting."

"Posting?"

"Standing and sitting with the trot." She clarified, and then I understood from her explanation. Here goes nothing, I Thought, and I asked Salem to trot. He started to move in a bouncy rhythm that I couldn't catch, and I bounced on his back a few times. Windy was on the ground saying "one, two, one, two" over and over again. I focussed on trying to get my legs to stand on one and sit on two, but they weren't always cooperating. I'd miss and bounce on Salems back, but he didn't do anything except keep going in the bouncy movement. I asked him to walk and we walked for a minute. I couldn't help but wish I had more natural athleticism, I really wanted to try and do this. I thought for a minute about the rhythm, and asked Salem to trot again. This time I got it figured, and could post almost perfectly around the paddock. I turned him left when Windy said left, and right when she said right, and I was starting to get the hang of it. It felt cool, different. I thought maybe it could be a lot of fun.

"You're actually a natural." Windy mused. I glanced at her as I asked Salem to walk. She wasn't in the middle of the paddock anymore. Instead, she was sitting on the railing beside Ranger, eyeing me. "Why don't you come trot once around the racetrack with Danny and me?" she suggested. I shrugged. I mean, why not? It might be the closest I ever get to flying.

"Doesn't she need a license?" Ranger asked.

"Technically, but we'll be on first thing, and it'll be fine. I'll get her set up with that towards the end of the week. Until then, I can pull some strings." Windy told him, as Jake led Danny over. The track official walked along with him, and nodded at Windy. "Come on." She told me, and I carefuly asked Salem to walk to the paddock's gate. Windy opened it and we walked out. Salem instantly turned towards the track, as Jake led Danny beside us. Windy pulled her stirrups down and Jake boosted her up. She headed straight onto the track. "Come one!" She called to me, asking the horse to trot right away.

Omigod. Ok, I can do this. "Come on Salem, we're being left behind." I nudged him and he stepped onto the track. Windy was already a bit ahead, and I took a breath and squeezed him into a trot. I bounced for a minute before finding the rhythm. The last thing I heard was Ranger's voice, asking Jake if this was a good idea.

I had to admit, that was not going to help my confidence any, but Salem trotted quietly down the track and I thought maybe I'd actually come out of this alive. But Windy and Danny were getting farther and farther ahead. I looked down at Salem's neck. I was never going to get to fly jogging around on an old pony horse. I couldn't even keep up to the real racehorses at a trot. Huh. That kinda sucked, but this is really cool at the same time. Salem started to trot a little faster, his ears pointed straight ahead. Pretty sure he wanted to catch up with Danny. Then we did, and he moved instantly to my right to be along side Windy's horse. She glanced over at me and grinned.

"Awesome, huh?"

"Yeah." I had to admit, it was pretty cool, even if he was no Speedy Gonzales. Probably, I needed Turtle Slow before I could do Mach Twelve. Salem's trot got faster and more bouncy, and then we were moving even faster, but it was a different motion, fluid, like a rocking chair. I couldn't find that rhythm, and pulled on the reins to get him to slow down. I pulled a bit harder than I needed to though, and he flipped his head up in the air at me, obediently slowing back to a trot. "Sorry buddy." I told him, patting his neck with one hand, the rein flopping as I moved my arm.

"He's ok." Windy told me. "He's just making sure he stays with Danny, and he finds it easier to canter. It's a beautiful gait, you just have to relax and think of following a rolling motion."

"Ok." I said. I was finding his trot easier and easier to ride, and then he got faster and moved into a canter again. This time I found the motion a bit easier, but asked him to slow down again not too long after he started. We trotted the rest of the way around to the gap.

"This is where I let you off." Windy said. I asked Salem to walk, and we walked off of the track while Windy picked up a canter on Danny, and continued his work.

"So?" Jake asked, taking Salem's reins and glancing up at me before returning his attention to Danny and Windy. "Have fun?"

"Um.. Yeah." I said. "Um...how do I get off?"

"Both feet out of the stirrups, swing your right leg over and off." He told me. I slid one foot, and then the other, out of the stirrups and then sat there for a minute. My thighs were still trembling but I think this time it was from being tired. I grabbed the horn with both hands and leaned forward, then tried to swing my leg over. I surprised myself, managing it in one try. I landed, both feet on the ground, and staggered backwards as my legs collapsed underneath me. Ranger's hand appeared at my elbow, steadying me, keeping me on my feet.

"Careful, Tiger." he said. He wrapped his arm around my waist and I leaned on him for a second. A groom took Salem from Jake and I gave him a pat before he led him away. I moved away and tried to stand on my own, but my knees buckled and Ranger had to catch me again. I heard him chuckle softly - I knew exactly what he was thinking - that if I would have gone running with him regularly I wouldn't have this problem.

"Knowitall." I muttered, and he kissed my temple. We watched as Windy finished her ride on Danny, and she came back to the gap, swinging off as soon as Jake had the horse by the reins.

"He went well." Jake commented.

"Yup." Windy answered, before looking at me. "So?" She asked.

"So." I said. I didn't really know what to say.

"Can you stand on your own?"

I carefully tried again, and barely, barely managed. I stepped back towards Ranger and leaned against his shoulder. "Yup." I told her. She grinned at me.

"You'll be back tomorrow?"

"Sure." Heck, I think maybe this was even worth getting up at ungodly hours for. I really did enjoy it. Much better than running. Maybe if I got up to do this, Ranger wouldn't make me get up to do that. Hm...That had potential.

"Glad to hear it." Windy said, and she was boosted onto another horse, and was back on the track.

"We should go, Babe." Ranger said, his hand coming up to cup the back of my neck.

"Mmm...Let's watch one more ride." I suggested. He squeezed my neck in answer, and I stepped forward to lean on the rail with Jake, elbows propped on it, forearms dangling over onto the track side, allowing my arms to carry my weight and take the pressure off of my exhausted legs.

"You looked good out there. Natural. You'll get the hang of riding quickly." He told me, his eyes never leaving the horse.

"Thanks." I said. This was embarassing. I didn't really know what to say. Ranger came to lean on the rail beside me, and then I couldn't think either. I was tired, elated, high, and off sugar, even if the last was accidental. And he smelled good. I watched Windy fly around the track, and sighed inwardly. I really wanted to try that.

A few minutes later, Windy was riding off the track again, and Ranger was tugging me towards her. "We have to get going, Querida. Stay safe."

"I will. See you."

"At the bonds office this afternoon?" I asked.

"Yup." Windy said. And she was boosted onto another horse, and that was that.

The drive back to Rangeman was silent. Ranger in his zone, and me reliving my ride on Salem. And Jake thought I was a natural? Maybe I had just found my calling. Probably it was too soon to think that. Heck, I didn't even need coffee to stay awake now!

"Earth to Babe." Ranger said.

"Oops."

"Come upstairs, Ella will have breakfast, and you can shower before heading out for the day."

I nodded. I definitely needed a shower. I stank like horse. Although horse actually smells good in comparison to most other things I wind up stinking of throughout the day. We rode the elevator in silence and I made a beeline for the bathroom.

"Hey." Ranger said, hanging me back just before I shut the door. He pulled me backwards out of the doorway and wrapped his arms around my waist. He nuzzled my ear, tugging the lobe between his teeth before placing a gentle kiss at the base of it. "Proud of you, babe." He released me, and gave me a gentle push into the bathroom, closing the door behind me.


	17. Chapter 17

As always, I don't own any of em but Windy! Just borrowing them from the brilliant-minded JE, and I promise I will return them none-the-worse for the wear. Altho she might not want to reuse the strawberry tarts.

Warning for language on this one.

And mucho thanks to Stayce for helping me brainstorm and the wonderful edits. You rock! J

My muse is living off of reviews, right now, so the more she gets, the sooner she might actually give me another freaking chapter. Personally, I vote for slapping her across the face J

**Chapter 17**

I walked into the bonds office on jelly-legs, Ranger's "Proud of you" still sounding in my head, making my heart feel all warm and mushy. The legs were a different story - but unlike when Ranger would make me run, this was still a good kind of exhausted. Connie was at the desk on the phone, and Lula was lounging on the couch painting her nails.

"Yo girl, Where ya been hiding? We ain't seen enough of your skinny white ass around here these days." Lula looked up from her nails and fixed a dagger eye on me.

"Yeah, I know." I told her. I apologized, and then told her about the redecorating, and Alyse and Isabel and everything else.

"You been busy." Connie commented.

"Yeah. Big time. And Ranger and I are working on leads on Carson, too."

"Whoa, Wait a minute. Rewind." Lula made an extravagant backwards motion with her hand. "You and Batman have two kids?"

"Yeah. I guess so." I hadn't really thought about it like that.

"Wow. You and Batman got two kids. All you and Supercop have is Bob." Lula's face broke into an ear-splitting grin. "You're engaged to the wrong man, white girl!"

"No I'm not!" I protested.

"You and Batman got two kids!" Lula repeated a third time. Her tape must be stuck in that spot. Geez.

"I don't care if Stephanie and Ranger have REINDEER for crissakes, I need Carson brought in NOW!" Vinnie hollered from the office. I looked at Connie and she shook her head. Nope, no bugs in the office.

"Keep it down." I told Lula. "I don't need the world, or the worm, hearing this."

"Yeah, well, at least he didn't say ducks." Lula pointed out.

"He'd CARE if it were ducks." Connie said.

"Good Point." Lula nodded seriously.

"Ok guys, can we maybe get off this subject? It's creeping me out." I said.

"So...If you and Batman gonna be parents, you gonna get married, right?"

I sighed. I knew I shouldn't have told them anything. "Listen. Very carefully. I'll say this once. I'm. Not. Marrying. Batman."

Lula's eyes had widened considerably as I said this. I was about to ask what her problem was when I felt Ranger's breath on my ear. "You're breaking my heart, Babe."

"Oh no you don't. I have no desire to clean up the Bonds Office when your broken heart bleeds all over it." I shook my head at him, taking a single sidestep away.

"I've already bled for you." Ranger replied, without even a hint of play in his voice.

I froze. My heart clenched at the memory. Ranger on the floor, unconscious, the blood pooling underneath him. I reached out and placed my hand over his chest, fingers spread, so I could feel his heartbeat under my palm.

Ranger's hand came up over mine, and our fingers twined together. He moved my hand away, placed a kiss on the heel of my thumb, and let me go. Then he turned and headed into Vinnie's office.

"Whoa." Lula said a moment later. "That was loaded."

I couldn't help but agree, but didn't say anything. I was still reeling. I sat down and started to go through the new files Connie had for me. My mind kept getting lost and I was still on the third sentence when Ranger came out of Vinnie's office, picked up two files from Connie, and stopped in front of me. He took the files out of my hands, and gave a nearly imperceptible nod towards the door. I followed him out, and once we hit the sidewalk he took my wrist in his hand and led me gently into the alley.

As soon as we were hidden in the shadows, he put his arms around me and buried his face in my hair. I was automatically pulled into his chest, and I leaned against him, my head resting in the curve of his shoulder. I put my own arms around his neck and melted into his embrace, closing my eyes. His hands were splayed across my back. I undid his leather hair tie and ran my fingers through his hair, tracing down his neck, coming to stop over the scarring from his latest bullet hole. My thumb brushed over it and his skin twitched beneath my touch. His arms tightened around me for a second, before he pulled away and dropped a gentle kiss on the sensitive spot where my shoulder joined my neck.

I didn't want to let go yet, so I tightened my arms around him and pressed my face into his neck. He held me a minute longer before gently setting me away from him. We walked, side by side, out of the alley. His hand rested on the small of my back until we got to the sidewalk, then it dropped to his side.

"Be careful." He told me. Then he got into his Porsche, and drove off.

The girls didn't say anything when I walked into the office again. Lula gave me a hard, calculating look, and her eyes widened as she realized he hadn't kissed me. I think she was surprised, but she seemed to know that I didn't want to discuss it. Ranger shot, bleeding on my living room carpet, sacrificing himself for Julie and me...and the messed up jumble of feelings I have to this day about it, wasn't something I was up to talking about. Mostly, I shoved it in the box labeled _denial_. I flopped back on the couch, picked up my discarded files, and started to read again.

I was still having trouble concentrating, and had only gotten through the first file when Windy walked in. Without looking up from the last page, I reached out and handed her the other. She sat beside me and scanned it quickly.

"Well, this guy sounds like a plan for today." Windy commented, closing her file. I was still trying to process the last page of my first file. "Charged with posession of kiddie porn. Works at the Tasty Pastry, regular day shift." Lula's eyes had lit up at the mention of the Tasty Pastry, and I knew right away that we were off on a manhunt. "Should be easy." Windy finished, standing. I cringed, wanting to cover my ears.

"Never. Ever. Say "should be easy." That's, like, cursing us with a bad capture." I sighed.

"Gonna go get my gun." Lula said, and boogied out of the room. "You're bringing Ol' Lula for this one!" she hollered. I looked at Windy and shrugged.

"Donuts." I said. Windy shook her head, with a burg-worthy eyeroll, and stretched. Her gun sat easily on her hips, as if it was meant to be there. My gun was...well...Maybe we'd better make a side trip to my cookie jar on our way to the Tasty Pastry.

We all squeezed into Lula's firebird. After a quick stop at my apartment so I could feed Rex and retrieve my gun, we were off to the Tasty Pastry. Normally it was my favorite place in the world, but with Windy's training regime, I wasn't allowed donuts. Kind of sucky, really, to have to go into the building and smell them, and not be able to have one.

"I have a rule." I announced suddenly. Both women turned their attention to me. I pointed at Lula. "You are not allowed to eat donuts in front of me."

"On account of what?" Lula's eyes narrowed and she slammed on the breaks, having almost missed a red light.

"On account of I'm on a new exercise plan and I'm not allowed any, so you're not allowed to tempt me."

"What d'ya need an exercise plan for, skinny girl?" Lula demanded.

I looked back at Windy, and she shrugged. "Well...Windy's teaching me how to ride, so I can try galloping racehorses."

"Fuckin' A!" Lula exclaimed. "I should learn how to do that too. Can you teach ol' Lula how to drive those big fast running machines too?"

"You don't drive them, you ride them." I told her. "And I don't think... that you would really..." I trailed off, and looked at Windy.

Lula glanced in her rearview mirror. "Two skinny chicks ridin' racehorses. I suppose it isn't a job for a full-figured woman like me." she decided.

"Yeah, that's about it." Windy agreed.

"But I can still eat donuts, so Lula's happy. You can ride your racehorses, skinny girl. Just don't fall off. Bet that would hurt, when you don't have all that padding like me to land on. Anyhow. It was always you who wanted to fly." Lula said as she pulled to a stop in the Tasty Pastry parking lot. "Me, I'm just happy I got me a great man and a respectable job with potential to move up, instead of my past career."

Windy didn't say anything, just raised an eyebrow. Lula turned around and looked at her. "I used to be a Ho, before I met Steph. She saved my life." Then she turned to me. "Alright. So I say we go in there, threaten to shoot his balls off, cuff him and drag him in. We oughta hurt him too, on account of he did bad things to kids."

"He didn't actually do anything to kids." I reminded Lula. "He just watched kiddie porn." Which was pretty much the same thing, watching someone else hurt little kids. And it was perverted enough on its own, but I didn't want Lula going overboard. "Maybe you should leave your gun in the car."

"Nope. I need this here gun. Maybe I can get some free donuts out of it."

"We are NOT going in there for you to hold him up for donuts. We will apprehend him quietly and peacefully, and take him to the police station, and then go back to the office. There will be no threatening, no kicking things in, NO SHOOTING, and no stunning. I don't want to have to drag him to the car."

Lula snatched the file and opened it. "Yeah. That man is FAT. Probably I never want to work at a donut shop if that's what it would do to my girlish figure." Then she looked back at me. "But you gotta be kidding. Maybe he didn't hurt kids, but He wantedta hurt kids. And that there deserves a kicking so hard his balls need to be surgically removed from his throat."

I sighed. "Do you really want us to have to get Vinnie to bail YOU out of jail?" Lula shuddered. "Didn't think so. Besides, I'm sure when he's IN jail, the other inmates will send him to surgery themselves." I sighed as Lula holstered her gun anyhow, grabbed her bag, and flounced - as much as a full-figured woman can flounce - out of the car.

"So." I said, leaning against the car. "We go in, we ask to speak to him privately, we apprehend him. Looks like the Tasty Pastry is empty right now," I added as the sole visible customer walked out the door, "so that's good. No funny business, and no involving innocent bystanders." I said, mostly for Lula's benefit.

"I'll cover the back door." Windy suggested.

"Okay. Lula, you go in and buy your donuts. I'll come in with you, and once you've paid we can apprehend. He's a first-timer so probably he forgot his court date." Well, we could hope, anyhow.

Lula nodded and marched into the Tasty Pastry ahead of me. She ordered two dozen boston cremes. Geez. I eyed everything but I had left my wallet in the car so I wouldn't be tempted. With an inward sigh, I focused my attention on our skip as he served Lula. Jason Clark was as ordinary looking as his name. Not someone I would have looked twice at had I passed him on the street, not someone who would have set my hair on end. And yet he was an utterly disgusting pervert. Lula took her donuts and set them on a table, then turned back.

"Jason Clark?" I asked, stepping forward. "My name is Stephanie Plum and you're in-"

"Fuck off." He interrupted me. "I know who you are and you ain't taking me in. I'm can watch whatever I want in the privacy of my own home."

"You think so sicko-brains?" Lula jumped in, her eyes narrowed. She was practically spitting fire as she advanced forward to lean across the counter into his face. "Well Stephanie here is allowed to take you in for watching that sick crap." Actually, I was allowed to take him in because he violated his bond agreement, but I let it slide for now.

"Fuck that, you stupid ho." He snarled, reaching behind the counter and grabbing a creampuff. He flung it at Lula, and it landed square on her left boob. The cream exploded across her chest. Lula looked down at herself, and looked up at him.

"RETIRED ho, dickhead. And now you gone and pissed Lula OFF." She roared, lunging across the counter. Clark jerked backwards and aimed a strawberry tart at Lula. It landed on top of her head, and then the second one splattered down her back. She scrambled across the counter and landed in a heap on the other side, before bouncing to her feet way faster than a woman her size oughta be able to, and charging him like a linebacker.

Lula's shoulder caught Clark square in the stomach, her momentum throwing him backwards until he crashed into the eclair case. He staggered to his feet and shoved back, before grabbing a donut and flinging it at her. It bounced off Lula's shoulder and over the counter to land, icing down, about three feet away from me. He charged, screaming obscenities. Lula danced backwards, before hopping on one foot, lifting a leg, and sending a well aimed kick in his direction.

Her shoes had a very sharp, pointy toe. And that sharp, pointy toe connected directly with his family jewels. In the middle of his obscenity-ridden banshee scream, Clark's voice pitched up to a high squeal. He dropped to the ground, curling up in the fetal position, clutching his groin. The momentum of Lula's kick sent her backwards. She didn't manage to regain her balance, but fell backwards, landing on her ass with a grunt at the same time as Clark had hit the ground. The force of their impact sent the strawberry tart tray, which had been balancing precariously on the counter ledge, tumbling over. The tarts rained down on Lula's head.

I leaned over the counter. The shop was silent except for the high pitched keening sounds coming out of Clark's throat. I wondered, even, if one of the sounds was maybe his nuts wooshing air. Maybe Lula pierced them. I couldn't say I'd be sorry if she had. I stepped behind the counter, passed Lula, and cuffed the skip. He was still shaking and making the strange noises, and didn't even put up a fuss.

"Come help me get him to his feet." I looked at Lula, but she was just sitting there, staring at the sea of strawberry goop surrounding her. "Lu?"

Lula started, and dragged herself to her feet. Sirens blared and a cop car pulled into the parking lot at the same time as Windy came skittering in the front door and over to the counter.

"Whoa." She said, her eyes widening.

Lula looked down at herself, and the mess, and Clark. "I think, maybe I'm gonna go sit down." she said quietly. She headed around the counter, and over to the table by the door where her donuts were. She looked like she was in shock.

Carl and Big Dog strolled in the door, both grinning broadly. Eddie Gazzara and Robin Russell came directly behind them. Funny, I hadn't seen the second cop car pull in.

Carl looked at me. "You're clean." He said. I looked down. Yup, even my hands were clean.

"You sound disappointed." I narrowed my eyes.

"Something must have hit you, right?" Now he sounded hopeful. "Powdered sugar, maybe? You must have gotten hit with some powdered sugar."

"Nothing. I'm absolutely clean. Maybe you should have tried betting on that for a change." I said. I knew I sounded bitchy but really, I was tired of the betting. I didn't WANT to be everyone's entertainment. I was still scowling at a disappointed Carl when Eddie walked over.

"Was it self-defense?" Eddie asked, nodding his head in Lula's direction. Lula was sitting at the table where her donuts sat, safe and untouched.

"Yup. Pretty much." I said. Hey, she had to defend herself after the Ho comment, right? I gave them the rundown on the skip. A black SUV and Ranger's Porsche pulled in. Moments later, Tank, Ranger, and Lester were walking through the door.

Tank gave Lula a long, worried glance, went over and lifted the skip none-too-gently to his feet. The three men all hauled him out to the SUV.

"That was good tackling." I told her.

"I wish my man hadn'ta showed up." Lula worried. "Don't want him seein' me like this."

"He won't care, Lu."

"The rat-bastard was right, yano." Lula shrugged, her hands lying loosely in her lap. "I'm justa ho pretendin' she's better than that life, pretendin' she's respectable now."

"You are respectable. You got your man, didn't you?"

"You got your man." Lula told me. "I'm just the tagalong."

"No you're not. We're partners."

"No I ain't. Windy's yer partner now."

"We're all three partners." Windy spoke up. "I'm going to go get his personal effects. Probably we should bring them."

"Probaby." I agreed. Probably he's fired now.

"I ain't no good." Lula said softly at the same time as the door opened and the men walked back in. Lula's eyes were on her toes, and she didn't even notice.

"Yes you are. Usually it's me covered in food."

Lula was quiet for a minute, and then she switched subjects. "I guess, once a ho, always a ho. No matter if my job now is respectable. Everyone still knows me as a ho, and thinks I'm no better than that."

Ranger and Lester looked decidedly uncomfortable, but their escape was blocked by Tank, who filled the doorway and was watching Lula, concern and...pain...etched across his normally blank face. I held up my pinky so that he'd give me a minute before interrupting.

"He was hurling insults left and right. He would have said that to anyone. You're one of the strongest people I know. You survived Ramirez." Lula shuddered as I mentioned his name. "And you're making a respectable living now. You really think that's something to be ashamed of?"

"Maybe Tank's only with me cause I used to be a Ho, so I'm easy." Lula's voice was still soft and sad. "Maybe it's just a good time. Maybe he be embarassed to call me his girl."

"No." Tank said gruffly, and moved to stand in front of us. He took both of Lula's hands in his, and tugged her to her feet. "Most people don't like me. You got a heart of gold, baby doll."

"I'm a joke." She said, her gaze still focussed on her feet.

Tank let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. "You're the best woman I know." He told her. I had never thought of Tank as eloquent, but I was seeing a different side of him now. "It's just a bad moment, baby doll. Nothing you can't get past." He kept talking to her, but as I moved away, I wound up out of earshot. That was ok, somethings were meant to be private.

I couldn't help but notice how perfectly Lula fit in Tank's arms. It was as if, as corny as it sounds, they were made for each other. _I wish I had that._ I thought to myself, with a tinge of sadness.

"Babe." Ranger said from behind me. I turned around and he looked me up and down before raising an eyebrow. "You're clean."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." I sighed. Ranger wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me sideways into him. He kissed my temple then let me go.

Tank and Lula walked over. Tank's arm was around her waist, and Lula's expression was considerably brighter. "Take the rest of the day off." He told Tank, who nodded. Ranger looked at Lula. "We're all proud of you." He told her. Her grin widened. Tank kissed the top of her head and led her from the store.

"That was quite the speech." I told Ranger.

"Babe." He said, then looked at his watch. "I'm late for a meeting. You ok?"

"Yeah."

"Tank went with Lula in her car. Lester can drive you, Windy, and the skip. If you need backup, he's available."

"Sounds good." I said. Ranger nodded, angled into the Porsche, and then he was gone.

No sooner did Ranger drive off than Lula came boogeying back in. "Forgot my donuts." She said. She grabbed them, then grinned at me. "My man loves me for me!" she said. She was still covered in strawberry goo and cream, but I don't think she even noticed.

"We all love you for you." I told her.

"You're the best, girlfriend." Lula's smile reached from ear to ear, and she boogeyed back out the door and to her car. She climbed into the passenger seat and gave Tank a kiss before they drove off.

"She ok?" Windy asked, coming back out with the skip's worldly posessions.

"Yup."

I started for the door, but Windy grabbed my arm and held me back. "There was a CD in his bag. It had Carson's initials on it. I think we need to take it to Ranger." She said.

"Did you pull it out?"

"Yeah."

I nodded. "We'll give the rest of his stuff to Carl and Big Dog. Keep the CD hidden and we'll drop it off at Rangeman once the skip is dropped off. Probably a good idea not to let him know we have it."

Windy nodded and we headed outside. She handed Clark's bag to Carl to take to the station. We were making our way to the SUV, when Windy stopped dead in her tracks.

"Oh my."

"What?" I turned to look at her. She looked..stunned.

"It's him."

"Him?"

"Ranger's employee."

"Him?" I repeated. "That's Lester." I watched as Windy recovered, but her eyes still shone. I shook my head and turned back towards the SUV. Then it was my turn to stand in shock. Lester was staring at Windy with a matching expression.

"You might as well ride shotgun." I told her. "I'll just stun the skip." I had a feeling I was spending the rest of the day with Lester whether we actually needed backup...or not.

It was almost sunset, and I was sitting on MaryLou's porch, a beer on the table beside me and one of her wonderful homemade brownies in my hand. Her kids were screaming on the front lawn, fighting over toys, chasing the cat, and in general being a handful. I couldn't help it, I wanted to run screaming in the other direction. But more than that, I needed to talk to Mary Lou. I just couldn't shake the heart-in-my-throat feeling I had gotten this morning when Ranger pointed out that he had already bled for me. So I stopped by Mary Lous, and told her about our takedown, Lula and Tank, and, of course, Alyse and Isabel.

"I'm the cop!"

"No I'm the cop!"

"You always get to be the cop!"

"No fair!"

"MOMMY!"

"GO PLAY!" Mary Lou hollered.

I sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing the right thing, marrying Morelli." I finally said. Mary Lou turned to me, looking somewhat stunned. She was quiet for a minute.

"You gotta do what makes you happy, Steph. Does Joe make you happy?"

"Yes. But... I don't know what's going on with Ranger. Thing's have changed between us, lately." Things had really changed. Since that morning he crawled into my bed, upset and untamed, wanting everything but taking nothing more than comfort and rest, things had changed a lot. I tried to explain that to Mary Lou, and I told her about the girls.

"Lets back up. Leave Ranger out of it. Does Joe make you happy? Would a life with Joe make you happy?"

The kids were still squabbling in the background. One of them kicked the cat, and Mary Lou hollered at them again.

"Steph?" She said, after I'd been thinking for a while.

"I think so." I finally told her. I mean, you can never know for sure, right?

"Enough to-" My phone started to ring, interrupting Mary Lou's next question. I dug it out and flipped it open.

"Hi Cupcake. I'm home."

_Ok, so..what do YOU guys think Steph wants???????_


	18. Chapter 18

Finally, Chapter 18 is posted. Sorry for the HUGE delay. My muse ran off with Ranger and wouldn't give him back, or help me write this. Evil wench!

Same disclaimers as always, except I own Windy!

Reviews are always good – I need to know what should happen next!!!

**Chapter 18**

I was startled awake by the alarm on my cell phone far too early the next morning. Joe grunted from the other side of the bed as I shut it off.

"It's not morning?" He questioned. I leaned over and kissed him softly on the mouth.

"Yes. No. It's 4:30." I rolled out of bed and groaned. I was stiff and sore everywhere. I threw some clothes on, turning back towards the bed as I pulled my shirt over my head. Joe was sitting up, looking sleepy and confused.

"What are you doing up, then?" He rubbed his face and blinked at me.

"Gotta go to Rangeman, pick up Alyse, and go to the track." I told him as I brushed my hair back into a quick ponytail at the base of my neck. Looks weren't important this morning. I'd worry about that after I rode, and showered.

"Ranger's up at the crack of dawn. Why isn't he taking her?"

I turned back to him and gave him a half smile. "Well...I also have to go for my lesson."

"Lesson?"

"Windy, the new girl at the office...She's teaching me how to ride, so I can learn how to gallop."

"She's teaching you how to ride racehorses."

I bit my lip. "Well, it's more like pony horses right now. The racehorses come later." When I learned how to ride well enough that I didn't flop around like a sack of potatoes.

Joe sighed. "Cupcake, you can't ride racehorses."

"Why NOT?" I demanded, narrowing my eyes. "Why can't you just support my choice for once?"

"It's not safe, Cupcake. And you don't know how."

"I'm learning how, Joe."

"This was Ranger's idea, wasn't it?" He asked as he flopped back in the bed and blew out a breath.

"No. It was mine. I want to do this. I want to fly."

Joe sat up again, and looked me over critically. "Steph, you're not athletic, and you've never been on a horse in your life. How, exactly, do you figure you can gallop racehorses and stay on the right side of their backs? Especially this early in the morning. You hate mornings. You're setting yourself up for failure, Cupcake."

I sat down at the foot of the bed, and stared at the carpeting. How could he love me, want to spend his life with me, if he didn't like me for who I was? And why did I have to live within tight boundaries if I wanted a life with him?

As for mornings... it was surprisingly easy to get up today. I was looking forward to trying again, excited even. It was easy to get up, even in the wee small hours of the morning, if I was getting up for a reason I was excited about. "I'd rather try and fail, than never try at all. How can I be happy with my life if I can't live it?"

"You need to do this to feel like you're living life?"

I shrugged, and turned to look at him. "Yeah."

"Be careful Cupcake, ok? I like you in one piece." Joe reached out towards me, and I gave him a half smile and moved into his arms. He hugged me, and then kissed me. I returned the kiss before pulling away.

"I'm going to be late." I told him. "Go back to sleep."

"Be careful." He said again, as he rolled onto his side and watched me walk out the door.

The streets were empty this early in the morning, and my drive to the Haywood building was an easy one. I stopped at the first gas station for a cup of coffee, and was merrily on my way. I was oddly awake and energized, for having gotten next to no sleep. After Joe had called me, I left Mary Lou's and headed for his place, for a welcome-home-party that consisted of Joe, me, and his bed. And it lasted long into the night. I was glad I had had the foresight to set my alarm, though - I didn't think it would be good for Ranger to be calling me at five in the morning while I was at Joe's.

My phone rang as I pulled into the parking garage. I fumbled around for it as I parked, flipping it open and undoing my seatbelt at the same time.

"Come up to the 7th floor. I've got coffee." I looked at my half drunk cup of gas-station-coffee and dumped it in the trash can by the elevator. Ranger's coffee was way better. Gourmet, even. I took the elevator and was just inserting my key in the door when it swung open and Ranger's hand reached out, tugging me inside. The door shut and I found myself pinned against it.

"Morning Babe." He grinned, and kissed me lightly. "You're looking wide awake."

"Where's the coffee." I ducked under his arm. "You said you had coffee."

"Looking rather stiff, Babe."

"Coffee?" I asked again. I couldn't even smell it.

"We'll go down and get it at Ella's again." Ranger said, and steered me towards the bedroom.

"Uh-uh. NO way!" I tried to duck away again, but I was really stiff and sore. I couldn't escape before Ranger had me anchored against him.

"You can barely move." He shook his head at me, and continued into the room. "Take your jeans off and lay down on the bed." He said, and disappeared into the bathroom. No way. I wasn't that stiff and I could too move. I was still standing by the foot of the bed when Ranger came back out of the bathroom with a jar of something in his hand. He raised an eyebrow at me, tossed the jar on the bed, and stepped forward, reaching for the waistband of my jeans.

"Uh-uh." I shook my head sharply and stepped back. Ranger followed me.

"You can't even strip." He was definitely amused, as he tugged on my jeans and pulled me towards him. He undid the button and started on the zipper. I smacked his hand away and stepped back, quickly shimmying out of my jeans. I wasn't going to win, regardless. I crawled onto the bed and sprawled on my back, watching him. Ranger just looked at me, his lips quirked slightly.

"On your stomach." He said. I flopped over. I felt the heat of his body as his arm reached over me, reaching for the jar he'd tossed on the bed. Then his hands were wet and cool on my thighs, rubbing circles on tense muscles, his fingers working with a pressure that was almost, but not quite, painful. I closed my eyes and sighed, drifting off into sleep as Ranger's fingers worked their magic, loosening knots and turning my muscles to jello. His hands warmed the cream quickly. Once the initial tightness wore off, it was pure bliss. I dozed off and didn't wake up until Ranger was pouring me back into my pants. Huh. No poaching at all. I blinked up at him.

"We're going to be late." He told me, tugging me out of the room. I started to move and was amazed at how much better, and looser, I felt.

"You can do that every morning." I told him as we rode down to the sixth floor. Ranger chuckled and kissed my forehead.

"Only you, Babe."

RSRSRSRSRS

"Hey girls, any new skips, Con?" I asked later that morning as I swung into the Bonds office with my bag of low fat muffins and Cluck-in-a-Bucket for the rest of the crew. I was sticking to the diet Windy put me on if it killed me.

"Hey white girl. How was the racehorse-ridin' today?" Lula asked as she dug into the chicken.

"Good. I'm getting the hang of it." I said, reaching into the bucket and grabbing a leg. "Don't tell Windy." I looked at both Connie and Lula before biting into the leg. It was juicy and perfect - I loved grease. Besides, I needed protein, right? And one little leg couldn't hurt. We were quiet for a bit as everyone ate their first piece of chicken. The silence was only broken by a steady thumping from Vinnie's office that we all just pretended we didn't hear. None of us wanted to know.

I finished my chicken and dug into my bag. "What's in the bag?" Lula asked. Her curiosity was as insatiable as mine.

"Low-fat muffins." I admitted. I rooted around through the two fruit muffins, then dug out the chocolate one at the bottom of the bag.

Lula raised her eye brow in a pretty good imitation of Ranger. "Girl, that be lookin' like a chocolate muffin."

"It was right beside the low fat muffins on the shelf. I'm thinking it's low fat too."

"Makes sense." Lula said. She opened her mouth to say more, but was interrupted by the sound of leather hitting skin, and then Joyce's voice shrieking a high pitched "YEE-HAW!!!" as Vinnie neighed - loudly. Then, blessed silence. Lula, Connie and I just stared at each other, all of our mouths open, a piece of chicken hanging out the side of Lula's. We'd only barely gotten ourselves back together when the door to Vinnie's office opened, and Joyce sauntered out with a smug expression on her face.

"Didn't take ME over 30 years to get the hang of ridin' prime horseflesh." Joyce snickered at me.

"Goddamned Motherfuckin RAT-BASTARD!" Connie shrieked, as she flew into action. That sleaze Vinnie had bugged the office again. She started tearing it apart looking for the bug.

"That ain't no prime horseflesh." Lula shook her head at Joyce. "Vinnie a sloppy man. He be willing to be ridden by anything that will pretend to have four legs." Joyce's face went red, and she lunged at Lula, who swung the bucket of chicken out of the way, then sidestepped. Joyce went flying over the counter, landing in a heap on the floor on the other side of Connie's desk. Connie found the bug and shot it at the same time as Lula reached over stunned Joyce's ass. We all stood, staring down at Joyce in silence.

"I sure as hell hope you guys didn't fuckin' kill her." Vinnie growled from his office door. I looked up to see him with his shirt half off, buttoned haphazardly, chest hair sticking out. "There isn't anyone else who wields a whip like her." He scowled at us. "You kill her, you learn how to man the whip."

"That's disgusting." I said. Vinnie scowled again and disappeared back into his office, letting the door slam behind him. "That was definitely not cool." I told the girls. Joyce was drooling on the floor and Connie was poking at her with a broom handle. Lula grabbed another piece of chicken. The chicken was tempting, but I'd had mine and I had to at least try to stick to my diet...or pretend to. I looked at Lula. "I'm going to go get Mooner and take him to his court appearance. You want to come along?"

Lula glanced down at her watch and shook her head. "Love to, but my man Tank's picking me up soon for a special lunch." Her eyes got soft and dreamy.

"Have fun." I told her. I knew she would. She and Tank worked well together. I picked up the files Connie had given me, and headed out the door.

I was just getting into my car when my phone started to ring. It was playing the Batsong. "Yo." I answered.

"Yo yourself." Ranger's amused voice came over the line. "You're stealing my lines."

Huh. Ranger was feeling playful. "Whatcha going to do about it?" I asked. Probably it wasn't wise to pull the lion's tail but I couldn't resist - playful Ranger was almost nonexistent.

"I'd tell you..." Ranger started, and I sighed.

"But then you'd have to kill me." I finished for him.

"Actually, I was thinking that it would be more pleasurable to show you. But killing you would work too. Figuratively speaking."

Gulp. Okay. "Maybe I don't want to know." I said.

"Babe." I could picture Ranger shaking his head. I was entertaining him again.

"I'm assuming you didn't call just to harass me." I narrowed my eyes, even though he couldn't see them.

"The thought has crossed my mind." He said with a chuckle, then sobered. "I need you and Windy down here for a meeting when she's done at the track. I left her a message already."

"Ok." I said.

"Be here at one. Be careful." Ranger finished, then disconnected.

"Will do." I said into dead airspace. I flipped my phone shut and headed for Mooner's.

RSRSRSRSRS

A few hours later I dropped Mooner off. We exchanged 'later dude''s and I was on my way. Mooner had been easy. I watched a couple of episodes of 'I Dream of Jeannie', made sure he had everything together, convinced him to change out of his supersuit, and we had been on our way. The court date had gone well and I had dropped him off with just enough time to get to Rangeman for the meeting.

I was headed towards Haywood street when my car sputtered once, twice, and a third time. Then it died and popped. Smoke started pouring out from underneath the hood. I wasted no time. I grabbed my bag and leaped out of the car, hitting the pavement at a dead run.

"Get away!" I yelled at a mother and her two kids. They were way too close to the car. The woman shot me a funny look and hustled her kids along. I heard her mutter something about getting away from the crazy lady.

"Miss Plum?" A male voice called out, and a hand touched my shoulder. "I think your radiator's toast."

"My radiator?" I asked, feeling rather stupid. I looked back at the car, the driver door flung wide open and the car still in one piece. The smoke had slowed and the car was really only steaming now. "Huh. It didn't blow up."

"No ma'am." The guy said, his voice laced with amusement. I turned around and looked at the man talking to me, only to find myself face to face with Bobby. I had met Bobby once, when we had done a redecorating job for Ranger. I narrowed my eyes at him. 

"Were you tailing me?"

"No ma'am. Just headed back to the office. Can I offer you a ride?"

Normally I wouldn't accept a ride from a man I barely knew, and then one whom I knew from such unusual circumstances. But this was one of Ranger's men, and Ranger would have his heart on a platter if anything ever happened to me. "Sure. I need to do something about that, though." I gestured back towards my car.

"Done." Bobby said. As we got into the SUV, I noted Hal in the front seat. He grinned at me and continued talking on his phone. It was easy to tell that he was on the phone with a towing company, arranging the removal of my car.

The drive to Rangeman was silent, and we turned into the parking lot right behind Ranger, who had come in from the other direction. Oh boy. We got out of the SUV at the same time as Ranger angled out of his truck, and looked at me with one eyebrow raised.

"My car died on the way here."

"Died?"

"It's still in one piece." I told him. "Just needs a repair shop. Bobby says it's the radiator."

"Babe." He said softly in my ear, crooking one arm around my neck and pulling me towards him, kissing my forehead. Keeping his arm around me, he walked me into the elevator and pressed the button to take us to the 4th floor.

Windy was already sitting in the conference room when we walked in, phone to her ear, tapping a pen on the table. She was talking horses, which wasn't surprising in and of itself. But Lester lounging in the corner, his eyes focused intently on her back, was rather interesting.

"Hi Les." I grinned. He glared at me as Windy jerked and spun around, eyes wide. Then they locked eyes and Windy offered Lester a smile and a shrug. That apparently was enough welcome, because Lester immediately moved to commandeer the chair beside Windy. I looked at Ranger and rolled my eyes. I mouthed 'lovesick' at him and he shook his head before moving to the head of the table.

"Did anyone see you take that disk?" He immediately fired at Windy. She shook her head. "Good. The DVD is one that select clients can buy through mail order. It wasn't pretty. Jason Clark has to be a high-end member to have acquired it. He probably doesn't know Carson, but... I want you two to be careful. Check in regularly. Keep one of my men with you when you're chasing skips."

"I'll do it." Lester spoke up instantly.

Ranger raised one eyebrow. "Will whatever you two have going on interfere with your ability to do the job?" He demanded. Windy's eyes dropped instantly and her face went flaming red. Lester had the decency to look a bit sheepish, and he reached over to squeeze her hand.

"No." He answered.

"See that it doesn't."

That was the unspoken end of the meeting, and Windy and Lester made a hasty exit. Windy glared at Ranger once, and he responded with another raised eyebrow.

"That action's getting old." I told him.

"It's easy." He told me. "You need wheels?"

Don't I always? "Yeah."

"Take the Turbo." He said, pulling out the keys and dangling them in front of me. "Lester can transport the skips. The Cayenne is being serviced and I need my truck."

"I'm off to get Shoshana, first." I told him, pocketing the keys. "The Porsche will make picking her up a piece of cake." Again. "Lester and Windy can go on to one of her skips, and I'll meet up with them at the station. I won't even get out of the Turbo before then anyhow." I pointed out. Ranger nodded, tucked a curl behind my ear, and we parted ways.

Shoshana was easy. I guess she was expecting me because she was sitting on her run down porch step, taking a drag from a cigarette when I pulled up. She stood and grabbed her raggedy purse before limping as quickly as she could towards the Turbo.

"I need me some medical care. Got a boil on my foot that needs removing. It hurts!" She said as she dropped down into the car and squirmed into the seat. "I love this car. Can you drive me past my friend Marie's house?" I drove Shoshana past six of her friend's houses, letting her use my phone to call each one so they could come to the door and she could wave at them from the Porsche window. Then I took her to the station. We both got out, and had gone about five feet when I remembered I hadn't cuffed her. I reached for my cuffs and looked at her.

"I need medical care for my boil." she repeated. "I woulda gone to my court date, but thought maybe if I skipped I could have another ride in the Turbo." Turns out, she was right. I guess probably she'll be skipping all of her court dates, just for a ride in the Turbo. We were walking together towards the entrance when tires squealed behind us. We both turned, just in time to see a black car skid around the corner and disappear. Before I could blink we were rocked backwards, as the Turbo blew sky high. I watched in horror as tiny pieces of metal landed at my feet.

"Damn. Becky Lynn never got to see me in that car." Shoshana sighed.


	19. Chapter 19

**Voila! Chapter 20. **

**Same old disclaimers apply.**

**And the same, much needed, never fully expressed thank you to Stayce for being a fabulous editor ****J**

**

* * *

****Chapter 19**

I was still staring at the flames ravaging the interior of the Porsche when Carl skidded to a stop beside me. I glanced over my shoulder just long enough to note that Carl was just the first person to reach me. Half of the department was headed towards us, hoping to get a good look at the latest piece of history.

"Is that...?" He asked, his voice laced with disbelief.

"Yeah." I sighed.

"Man. Ranger's Turbo oughta be worth double our current bets."

Personally, I thought Ranger's Turbo was worth my life. I toed the scraps of metal at my feet. "Can you take Shoshana in and get me my body receipt?" I asked. It was more of a demand than a request and Carl made a face as he turned and escorted Shoshana to the building. He didn't like being deprived of the feature presentation. I wrapped my arms around myself, left alone with my thoughts and fears. Nobody else seemed willing to approach me, but I could hear the buzz of conversation behind me as I stared at the firemen, now hosing the burning heap of rubble that used to be Ranger's prized sports car. I wondered if I should call him, but I was sure he knew that the car went off the grid. And, I really didn't know what to say... or how to tell him. This one felt way worse than any other vehicle I'd ever destroyed.

Turns out it was moot point. I came to this realization when the crowd suddenly went silent. That could only mean one thing. Ranger had arrived. Now, everyone would wait to see what he was going to do to me. I looked up as he angled out of his truck and glanced at me before striding over to the smoldering scraps. He stood there, his head tipped to one side, looking at the remaining scraps of car. He gave the impression that he was weighing the options, contemplating my punishment, deciding my fate. I couldn't bear to watch. I looked down again, and fixed my gaze on the little scraps of car lying at my feet. I poked at them, one at a time, with my toe, nudging them around in circles. Then, Ranger's feet appeared in my sight. I kept toeing the scraps and tried to ignore him. This worked until he moved one more step forward, standing lightly on my toes, effectively stopping me from avoiding him any longer.

"You ok?" Ranger asked me as his toes pressed firmly onto mine. I hugged myself tighter, and stared at our feet.

"I'm sorry."

"It's just a car, Babe." He said softly, gently tucking a curl behind my ear. "I can buy another."

"It's not just a car." I shook my head. I couldn't stop shaking. It was the Turbo, for crying out loud! Ranger drew me into his arms, and hugged me gently. "Just a car." He repeated. Then he set me back so he could look into my eyes, and gave me a pointed look. "You need to be more careful."

"It-" I started, but he cut me off.

"I know. Wasn't your fault. You're bleeding." He said, then turned me so he could inspect the cut on my neck. "That's gonna need stitches." He pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it against my neck. I hadn't even noticed I was bleeding.

"I blew out a breath. "I hate hospitals." A black SUV pulled up, and Lester's head came out the window as he gawked at the burning mass of Turbo.

"I know. Lester and Windy will drive you. I'm late for a meeting I can't reschedule."

"I'm sorry about the car." I said. "And making you late." I noticed Joe coming over, scowling. Guess he finally heard. I was going to get it again about my job, and my association with Ranger - I just knew it. And probably the racehorses, too.

"You're hell on wheels, Babe." Ranger grinned at me, then drew me forward and kissed my forehead gently. He took my hand and placed it on the handkerchief on my neck, squeezed my shoulder and strode off. I heard him mutter something to Morelli, and Joe's face darkened. Whatever it was, it couldn't possibly be good.

"I don't want to hear it Joe... Not right now." I held my hand up and tried to sidle away. I really, really didn't want a big public fight in front of everyone.

"What's between you and Manoso, Cupcake?"

"Nothing! Geez. If you're going to marry me, you sure as hell should trust me." I bristled, narrowing my eyes at him. I would be damned if I would let him accuse me of anything.

Joe sighed. "Look...we need to talk about this, Cupcake. Like adults. Let's go get some -"

"Not now, Joe." I really didn't want to go through another war now. All I wanted to do was pretend today hadn't happened. At least, since my car started smoking. Then a black SUV rolled up beside me, and Lester rolled the driver's window down a crack.

"Cupcake -"

"Lester and Windy are waiting for me. I gotta go." I ducked past him and headed around to the other side of the SUV. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a tall, pretty, conservatively dressed blonde as she walked up to Joe.

"Trouble in Paradise?" I heard her ask.

"Just my acid reflux acting up. What're you doing here?" Joe answered. I shot a glare at his back as I climbed into the back seat. All the more reason to avoid this talk. I'd heard enough about his acid reflux.

"You sure you want to marry the cop?" Lester glanced at me in the rearview mirror as he pulled out of the station parking lot and headed towards the hospital. "Not every man will shrug off a $200,000 car."

"I can't believe Carlos isn't mad." Windy put in.

"Boss man's in loooooove." Lester sang, waggling his eyebrows and making Windy giggle.

I didn't think it was so funny. "I'm telling him you said that." I groused. "I hear Siberia is ugly this time of year."

Lester chuckled then turned his attention back to the road. A few minutes later, he reached across for Windy's hand, bringing it to his lips before settling their hands together on his thigh. I turned my head and watched the city fly by through my window. Oh, to be anyone but Stephanie Plum.

EIEIO

The sad part was, that was far from that last time I wished I were someone else, anyone else. The day kept getting worse and worse. I had to hand it to Lester and Windy - they were faithfully patient as they waited the entire two hours it took to get out of the hospital. Stitching my neck took less than a half hour, but there was a good hour and a half of publicity. I was in the hospital, AGAIN, and everyone had to know why. And then, of course, when they heard that the car of the hour was Ranger's Turbo, they had to hear the story AGAIN. Lester was no help in crowd control - he was too amused by the story, and more than happy to hear it again, and again, and again - and even help tell it. I think secretly, he got a kick out of having seen Ranger's Turbo reduced to smithereens.

And after all, there was the little fact that I was Rangeman's entertainment. Batman's Joker.

I closed the door to the SUV, and leaned back against the headrest, separating myself from the throngs as Lester and Windy got into the front seat. My reprieve was short lived, though. Just as we were pulling out of the parking lot, my cell rang. It was Joe.

"You coming over tonight so we can talk about this?"

"Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow." I really just wanted to put it off until Joe forgot. And I was still pissed about the acid reflux comment. Probably better if at least one of us wasn't angry about something when we did talk.

"Cupcake. I love you, but we really need to sit down and have an adult conversation about things."

I knew damned well what things he was talking about. My job, my friends, and the vehicles. In no particular order. "Tomorrow. We can do lunch." I suggested. That sounded adult enough. "Besides. I thought you were working late tonight?" I was pretty sure I remembered Joe saying that the night before.

"I was going to come home early. I really think we need to talk."

Oh. I was starting to dread this talk more and more. "How about we meet at Pino's tomorrow, at noon?"

"MY house. I'll bring Pino's home." Joe said. His tone was final, and I didn't bother arguing. So much for a public buffer. Then again, we never really curbed it for the public's benefit, so maybe private is better. I agreed to meet him at noon, and that ended that conversation.

"Bargaining for a later court date?" Lester chuckled as I flipped my phone closed. I didn't even dignify him with an answer.

EIEIO

"Aren't you going to drop me off at my apartment?" I asked, as Lester turned out of the station parking lot and in the wrong direction. We had just dropped off our last skip for the day. Overall, not including Shoshana, we had apprehended two of Windy's skips and one of mine. Incidentally, it was Windy's second skip who was responsible for my dive into a dumpster.

Lester slanted a glance at me in the rearview mirror. "Boss said he'd let you use his truck. You'll want to get cleaned up first, though. Keys are on the sideboard."

I had to wonder if it was safe for Ranger to lend me two vehicles in the same day. But since I needed the wheels, I opted to keep my thoughts to myself. No point in jinxing what could be a good thing... at least... if the rest of the day goes better than the first half did.

When we pulled into the Rangeman garage, I noted that Ranger's truck was parked all alone in the parking lot. With the Turbo in pieces and the Cayenne in the shop, I wasn't sure what, exactly, Ranger would drive while I had his truck. I voiced the question to Lester.

"Tank took him to pick the Cayenne up. It's finished." Well, I suppose that works.

I rode the elevator up to the seventh floor, and let myself into his apartment. His truck keys sat, alone, on the sideboard, standing out like a beacon. That just made me feel more guilty about the Turbo. I left the keys there and stripped out of my garbage-covered clothes. They got tossed into the trash can - there was no way I was wearing them again. I'd already learned that it takes more effort than it's worth to get the scent of rotting garbage out of clothes. Or to even try.

I couldn't help but moan as I climbed into Ranger's hot shower and opened the bottle of Bulgari so that the scent wafted around me. Ranger's shower gel almost made trashing another pair of good jeans worthwhile. Showers at Ranger's were always leisurely events. I washed my hair and used a generous amount of Bulgari on the rest of me, then let the hot water cascade down my back until it cooled.

I grabbed Ranger's towel and dried my face first, breathing in his scent. Then, I wallowed in the towel, and tried not to moan. When I was done I folded it and hung it up before shrugging into Ranger's bathrobe. I loved wearing the bathrobe. If I lived with Ranger, I'd wear it every day. Although probably, I admitted to myself, I wouldn't be wearing it for long. Ranger liked me wearing his bathrobe too, but I'm pretty sure he'd like getting me out of it even more. And he'd probably take advantage of that without hesitation if I gave him the slightest indication I was agreeable.

My thought process wasn't good for my hormones, and I was assailed by a sudden hot flash that had nothing to do with age, and everything to do with the sudden vision of naked Ranger slowly unwrapping the tie and sliding the robe down my shoulders, kissing every inch of skin he unveiled. "No Stephanie. You're engaged to Joe. You will NOT Lust after Ranger." I told myself, and shook my head hard, sending water droplets flying from my hair onto the mirror. I sighed and hoped Ranger wouldn't notice. I didn't think he had a rag in the house to wipe it with. Ella probably had all the rags.

Before I could work myself up into a state so bad I needed to get back into the shower - I ducked into Ranger's room and rooted through his closet for the stash of clothes I kept there. I found underwear and jeans and shimmied into them under the robe, then went digging for a shirt. A minute later I pulled myself out of the closet and glared at it. I tried not to keep a tally of the clothes I destroyed, it was too depressing. But finding no shirts of my own in Ranger's closet when I knew there had been at least five in there not two weeks before was kind of an eye opener. Maybe Joe was right and I should look for a new job. Or maybe I should just ask Ranger for another position in the office.

Or maybe even a pity position. I might be settling in for a long dry spell after my talk with Joe tomorrow.

"Dammit Stephanie, concentrate." I muttered to myself, before burrowing back into Ranger's closet. I checked for a shirt of my own one more time, before giving up and pulling one of his black Rangeman t-shirts over my head. It hung down my hips and was definitely too big for me. But on the up side, it was Ranger's.

The apartment was still empty when I stepped out of Ranger's bedroom, so I scurried over to the sideboard, grabbed my bag and the keys, and booked it out of the building. I even outright admitted to myself that I was trying to avoid Ranger. Not only because of the Turbo, but even more so because I know he would take one look at my face and KNOW all about my fantasy of him unwrapping me out of his bathrobe. And that wouldn't be good for either of us. Me, because I'm engaged to another man, and Ranger, because the other man in question would probably shoot him, the law be damned.

Ranger's truck didn't do much to help me banish the fantasy, though. Once again I was wrapped in his scent. I was sitting in HIS seat,smelling him, driving his truck. And driving his truck ALWAYS made me feel sexy. It was too bad that Joe and I had to "talk", because I could have used that to my advantage tonight.

Deciding that a night alone required some supplies, I stopped at the 7-Eleven for some Ben and Jerry's, coke, and cookies. I browsed the selection of ice cream and finally settled on Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Cherry Garcia, and Peanut Butter Cup. Ok, so I couldn't decide, and figured my best bet was to just buy them all and stick them in the freezer. A spoonful of each would work just fine for eating, too. Then I grabbed a package of Double-chocolate-fudge cookies, and a twelve-pack of coke and headed for the counter to pay.

I had barely shut the back door to the truck after placing my stuff on the seat, when I was grabbed by the arm and spun around. A hard body pressed up against me, and angry eyes bore into mine.

"Tell that cunt of a friend of yours I want my DVD back." Jason Clark snarled.

"Lula doesn't have anything of yours." I told him. "We dropped all of your stuff off with you."

"Oh, she has the DVD." he told me, lowering his voice. "Maybe you watched it with her. Did it make you hot? Did you get off?"

Ranger had told us next to nothing about the content of the DVD, but it was enough for me to know that I didn't want to watch it. Enough that the idea of watching it made me sick, not hot. "We never saw a DVD. We just picked up your stuff and dropped it off with you." I repeated.

"You tell that fat ho that I want it back. And tell her that if I don't get it back, she will pay. The car today was only the beginning." He leaned in, and pressed against my throat for a brief moment before pulling back and moving quickly off behind the building. My legs shook and I was tempted to let go and slide to the ground, but my brain reminded me that I didn't want to be a sitting target, so I forced myself back into the truck, locked the doors, and put it into drive.

By the time I got back to my apartment, my heart had steadied and I was feeling much less shaken. Or I was, until I saw the cop cars and emergency vehicles in the parking lot. I parked the truck and made my way to the throng of people, milling around at one end of the lot.

"Now what?" I asked Eddie.

"Water pipes broke. Someone called us thinking it had something to do with you." He rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately for the betting pool, we don't get lucky twice today."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're lucky you're a cop. So what's going to happen?"

"Building is being evacuated. It's not livable right now."

"Can I go in and get my stuff?" And Rex. OMIGOD! Rex! "Is Rex ok?"

"I'm sure he's fine. Yes, you can go in. Get anything you need, and check and see what's salvageable and what's damaged. Then get the claim ready for your insurance company. Your insurance company must love you." Eddie added, giving me a sideways look.

Actually, my car insurance company hated me, and I hadn't bothered insuring the meager possessions in my apartment. I gave Eddie a finger wave and headed in. Might as well get it over with.

Twenty minutes later, I was sitting in Ranger's truck, unsure of where to go. I had grabbed Rex and packed a bag with some clothes and basic necessities, and left the rest after being reassured that I could go back to get anything else any time I needed to. That worked well for me, but the fact that the apartment was unlivable...didn't work well at all. I thunked my head against the steering wheel and sat there, going over my options.

I could go back to Ranger's but with Joe in town that wouldn't go over well at all. And despite the fact that we were gearing up for a big, huge, Italian fight ... that didn't mean I wanted to make the situation worse. I could go to my parents, if I wanted to share the bathroom with Grandma Mazur and horse-girl, never mind Angie who was starting to spend hours in the bathroom. I would have thought she was too young for makeup, but... and the girls were at my parents right now because Val and Albert had gone to some lawyers' conference in Atlantic City.

I contemplated my options for a little while longer, and then decided that I might as well go to Joe's. I tried to call him to let him know, but got his machine at home AND on his cell. Oh well. We're engaged, it's not like he'd mind coming home to find me in his bed. And I planned to be sound asleep, so that our "talk" was put off until tomorrow.

I parked Ranger's truck a block and a half over. Someone in the neighborhood was having a party, and there wasn't a spot to be found. I didn't want to park in Joe's driveway because then there wouldn't be room for his truck. Well, unless he parked behind me, and that would mean I wouldn't be able to get out easy if we did wind up screaming at each other in the morning. I made sure I had an escape plan.

I grabbed Rex and my bag, hiked to Joe's, let Bob out briefly, and then changed and crawled into bed. It was amazing how fast the evening went. I didn't even feel like the iced cream anymore - just plunked it in Joe's freezer and left it there. Oh well, it'll keep for morning. I'll need it after our "talk." It was only ten at night, but I was beat. And I really wanted to be asleep when Joe got home, so we didn't have to talk. I buried my face in my pillow, and fell into a hard sleep in no time at all.

I woke up when a light flashed on in the hall. I squinted my eyes open into the light and blinked. What I saw froze me to my toes. Standing in the doorway was Joe...and a half-dressed woman...her breast in Joe's hand. Joe kissed her, turned into the room, and did a double take.

"Steph? What're you doing here? SHIT."

* * *

**_Now…What just happened? And what should Steph do about it? She's pretty shocked and upset right now, and she'd really like to know what the heck she's supposed to do next. Is Morelli REALLY Scum? Or is this something other than it appears?_**


	20. Chapter 20

Alright. Incoming…Chapter 20.

Is Steph making the right decision?

As always, I own nothing but Windy and the racehorses. The rest, I'm borrowing from the wonderful JE.

And once again, a huge thanks goes to Stayce, who is, quite probably, the best editor in the world!

* * *

_I woke up when a light flashed on in the hall. I squinted my eyes open into the light and blinked. What I saw froze me to my toes. Standing in the doorway was Joe...and a half-dressed woman...her breast in Joe's hand. Joe kissed her, turned into the room, and did a double take._

_"Steph? What're you doing here? SHIT." _

**Chapter 20 **

I blinked a couple of times, then climbed out of the bed. "Maybe because while you were off with HER, my apartment building flooded and I needed somewhere to stay. Didn't think you'd appreciate it if I went to Ranger's. Figured since we were engaged, and all, you wouldn't mind me staying here." I moved on autopilot, throwing my dirty clothes into my overnight bag before I carefully twisted Joe's ring off of my finger and placed it on his dresser. I took one last look at the woman, and suddenly recognized her as the woman who showed up at the station earlier that afternoon … then I brushed past them, out the bedroom door and down the hall.

"Steph. Cupcake, I --"

"Go to hell, Joe," I said, dully. "We're done." As soon as I was downstairs, I swept Rex's cage off of the counter, dropped Morelli's keys by the toaster, slipped into my sneakers and walked out the door. I didn't bother looking back. I was numb. Probably, I should have ranted and screamed, like I had with Dickie, but I couldn't find that button. I couldn't get past the numb. Probably I shouldn't be walking out in the dark either - in my barely-there pajamas - but I didn't really care, either. Let someone attack me on my way to Ranger's truck. Let Joe have THAT on his conscience. My awareness was dulled, and I blinked in surprise to find myself standing at Ranger's truck, I dug around for the keys, threw my duffel bag over the front seat and into the back, and then climbed in myself and placed Rex on the passenger seat beside me. Then, I started to cry.

I drove aimlessly for a bit, around Joe's block a couple of times, past the Bonds office, past my apartment... I tried to figure out where to go, but only really had one option if I didn't want to deal with the bathroom-crunch in the mornings. I whipped the truck around and headed towards the Haywood building. Of course, I thought as I drove, knowing my luck I'll knock on Ranger's door only to find HIM with a woman too. It was just the way my day was going. I drove into the entrance, beeped the gate open, drove into the underground parking and parked in one of Ranger's free spots. The Turbo's spot looked empty, and that just made me cry harder.

No way was I going upstairs in tears, though so I sat in the truck for a minute, forcing myself to stop. "Maybe we should just sleep right here tonight." I told Rex. We were safe in the parking garage, and... I sniffled. I wiped my eyes, got out, grabbed my bag and Rex's cage, and headed towards the elevators.

The elevator opened on the 7th floor and I took a breath before I stepped out. I shifted Rex's cage and lifted my hand to knock when the lock tumbled and Ranger opened the door.

"Babe." He said softly, taking in my appearance. Damn, he can probably see the tear tracks. Never mind that I was in skimpy, almost non-existent pajamas.

"My apartment building flooded. Can I sleep on your couch?" I cursed myself as my voice cracked.

Ranger opened the door wider, and gestured me in. "Why aren't you at Morelli's?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Babe, I see a very unhealthy pattern of behavior here." He took Rex's cage and set it on the counter.

"There is no pattern. We're done. I don't want to talk about it." I repeated, and the damned tears started to fall again. Ranger reached for me and I flinched and backed away. "Don't touch me." He ignored me, and pulled me into his arms. I buried my face in his shoulder and cried.

I woke up on Ranger's couch, covered in two blankets tucked tightly around me. My face was buried in a pillow that was somewhat wet. I blinked for a minute like a disoriented bat who had just gotten a flashlight shined into his eyes, and then I remembered. Joe, the beautiful blonde, Ranger, Ranger's lips, Ranger's couch. I could hear the shower going, and I briefly thought about joining Ranger, but let better judgment prevail. Then, the shower stopped and I heard him moving around. I turned my head to the side, closed my eyes, and forced my breathing to level out. I didn't want to deal with the questions yet. I didn't want to talk about it, or to face anyone - even Ranger - just yet. If ever. I could still hear his footsteps in the other room and then he left his bedroom and walked over...to the couch. I could feel him standing beside me, but continued to force myself to feign sleep. He stood by me for a long minute, and touched my naked ring finger, before whispering "poor Babe" and kissing my eyes.

He stood there for another minute, then gently shook my shoulder. "Time to wake up, Babe." He said softly as I cracked one eye open to glare at him. "We leave for the track in ten."

"I can't get ready in ten minutes." I mumbled. "I'll skip this morning."

"Ten minutes is easy, Babe. You're just going to the racetrack." He scooped me up and set me on my feet, before cupping my face in his hands. "You'll go to the track, ride, and then meet Morelli sometime today and everything will work out."

"There's nothing left to work out." I said, and my voice sounded dull to my own ears. Before Ranger could ask any more questions, I ducked away from him and locked myself in the bathroom.

EIEIO

"Got anything for me today?" I asked Connie as I walked in the door. Trying to have a normal day really wasn't what I wanted to do, but probably Ranger would make me go to the gun range or something if I just sat around his apartment. My concentration was zapped, and I kept seeing Morelli and the blonde, her perfect, bare breast squeezed in his hand, over and over and over. It was killing me. I had, in fact, fallen off of Salem because I wasn't paying attention. Just got bounced off. I couldn't relax. Windy gave me hell for it, and told me to get my brain in order by tomorrow, or take the day off. Probably, I should give up on riding, given that I really wasn't likely to be any better at that than I was at anything else in my life. And really, I wasn't very good at anything I did. At least, not today.

"Nope, nothing new. Slow week."

"Girl, you look like Sheeee-it." This came from Lula. I tried to fix her with the burg glare, but it just wasn't quite there.

"Gee, Thanks." I said. "Yesterday was a bad day. And then I got flooded out of my apartment." I didn't bother telling her about Jason Clark. I had already called Tank the evening before and let him know, and he had said he'd guard Lula's body.

"No Shit." Lula said. "So you living with Morelli again?"

"I was, for a few hours."

"Uh-oh. You guys have another fight?"

"Not exactly..." I said. I didn't know how to tell them, or how to say it, and especially how to say it without bursting into tears.

"Well what is it, exactly?Lula demanded.

"Nothing important." I told her.

"The exactly is," Joyce said snidely from behind me as she walked out of Vinnie's office, "That because of Stephanie's ineptness with men, Morelli felt the need to get satisfaction elsewhere and brought her home last night, only to find Steph sleeping in his bed."

How the hell did she find out? Oh, never mind. News travels fast in the Burg. Before I could say anything else, like bitch her out for eavesdropping and being a bitch in general, Lula darted past me and stunned her. Joyce squeaked and slumped to the floor. Connie was rooting around for the bug Vinnie had placed in the office - again - and let out a grunt of satisfaction when she found it, and shot it. Vinnie yelled an oath from his office, but didn't come out. I took perverse satisfaction in the fact that the shot probably killed his eardrum. And that he'd lost two expensive bugs in two days.

"Hmph. Stupid bitch ain't good for nothin'." Lula grumbled, jabbing her in the ribs with the toe of her shoes on the way by. Then she looked at me. "That true Girl? Morelli stepping out on you?"

"Y-Yes." I could feel my eyes tear up. Damn.

"Girl, we oughta go bust some Morelli ass. Nobody does that to my girl."

"No. We're not busting any ass. And you know what? I'm taking the day off. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Or maybe the next day. Or maybe next WEEK. Or Year. Or lifetime. Never would be soon enough. And, oh God, I never wanted to see my mother again.

"I'll come with you. We'll shop and eat and have a regular pity party." Lula said. "Let me grab my bag."

"No!" I shouted, and Lula stopped dead. "I'm going alone for today. I need some alone time." I said.

Lula stilled. "You sure you're ok, girl?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine. I just need some time to think." I said, gave the girls a finger wave, and walked out. I climbed up into the truck and drove out, headed towards Point Pleasant. For good measure, I turned my cell phone off.

RSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRS

Point Pleasant was fairly quiet. That suited me fine, as I really just wanted to think about Morelli, my life, and what Joyce said. If I looked at all of my relationships, it seemed that Joyce really was right. Dickie, Joe...and even Ranger. Ranger didn't cheat - he just doesn't commit so he didn't have to worry about monogamous relationships. Ok, so realistically I know that that's not how Ranger's mind works, but... I walked the beach for a while, bought an orange-swirl ice cream, and walked the beach some more.

I thought about my conversation with Mary Lou, not even two days ago. Did I love Joe? Could I picture the rest of my life with Joe? I had thought the answer was yes. Everyone expected the answer to be yes. 'Yes' got my mother off my back. 'Yes' gave me the security of knowing I would never be alone. 'Yes' gave me someone I loved. I did love Joe. He and I had been tied together for a long time. It's impossible not to love someone, when their history is so ingrained in yours.

I sat down on the sand and stared out at the ocean. Was I really not good enough for Morelli? Hell, who was I kidding. I wasn't good enough for anyone. Not Joe, not Ranger ... not even to ride racehorses. Not when I couldn't even stay on an old pony horse. I zoned out in the middle of my pity party, and my mind went numb. Time passed in a haze of random thoughts and numbness. Realistically, I knew hours passed, but I had no desire to get back. It was probably getting close to 4 in the afternoon when a shadow passed over me, and someone sat down beside me. I glanced out of the corner of my eye. Ranger.

"I want to be alone." I told him. He didn't answer, just handed me an orange swirl ice cream cone, and sat with me, shoulder to shoulder. I felt tears in my eyes again, but forced them back and concentrated on eating the iced cream. Ranger put his arm around me and I leaned into him a bit. He never said anything. His silent support was comforting.

"How'd you know I was here?" I finally asked.

"Tracked the truck." He said. "You didn't answer your phone."

"It's off. I wanted to be alone. Why'd you come?"

"I overheard Lula and Connie telling Windy about Morelli at the bonds office, and how you were out for the day. When I couldn't get you on the phone, I located the truck."

"It hurts." I whispered, and his arm tightened around me.

"Want me to send Tank after him?" Ranger asked.

"No. It's not like I'm really what men want anyways. It shouldn't even be surprising."

Ranger snorted.

"It's true." I told him, my voice rising in pitch as I got upset. "You don't want me … at least, not for a real relationship! I'm not enough for Morelli, wasn't enough for Dickie..." I did cry then. Ranger pulled me closer to him and stroked my hair with his free hand while I cried. Eventually, I sniffled into his shoulder and started to think about moving away. His arm tightened slightly, holding me to him.

"We need to talk about us sometime, but not today." This time, I could fill in what he didn't say. He didn't want to have that discussion under Morelli's shadow. Neither did I. "I said I'm dessert, and not the base of your food pyramid, and I meant it."

"Dessert IS the base of my food pyramid." I interrupted.

"I know." he said softly, kissing me above my ear. "And you know that I love you. And if this is the end of Morelli, I'm going to pursue you. I want you. You have to decide, with a clear head, if that's in your best interest. And then we'll talk about us."

"Of course this is the end of Morelli. He...He..."

"He's a fool and he's an ass." Ranger said. "And the problem is him, not you. There is nothing wrong with you."

We stayed silent for a while after that, before Ranger spoke again. "I have a proposal for you. You need somewhere to stay that's safe. Move into the Rangeman building. You can have an apartment on the 4th floor, or live on the 7th floor, your choice."

Hm... my own, lonely apartment, or Ranger's shower gel. My own place, or Ranger's shower Gel...

"Babe." He was smiling.

"Where would YOU prefer I live?" I asked.

Ranger's eyes darkened. "In my bed. Permanently."

"Not an option. I have to work." I shoved against him. It felt good to sit with him. The weight was slowly lifting off of my shoulders and I could feel a bit of the old Stephanie seeping back.

"Babe, I want you as close to me as possible. But it's your choice. And yes, you can use my shower gel."

Yum. "Can I have both options?" Maybe it would be better if I could live on the 4th floor, but spend most of my time at Ranger's place.

"Do you need both options?"

"Sometimes you're a little smothering."

"I'll work on that. Unless you're in danger." Left unsaid was the fact that I usually am.

"I'll stay with you. For now. As long as I don't have to eat rabbit food."

"Babe, you can eat whatever you want." he grinned, kissed me softly on the forehead, and pulled me to my feet. "Come on. It's getting chilly and the sun is starting to set."

We walked down the beach towards the parking lot, when I suddenly realized I hadn't asked how he'd overheard Connie and Lula. "Just how did you hear that conversation with Connie, Lula, and Windy, anyhow? Vinnie bug the office AGAIN?"

"No. I went to check on you because I was worried, saw that the truck wasn't there, but hung out outside the door and listened to the conversation."

"Your mother ever tell you it's rude to eavesdrop?" I asked stepping sideways and shoving my hip into his.

"Yeah. But what she doesn't know won't hurt her." His arm snaked out and dragged me back to him. He kissed me, tongue and all, and when he disengaged our lips I was plastered to him. I rested my head on his shoulder, snuggling my face into his neck.

"You should do that again in public." I said against his neck. Preferably in front of Morelli.

"Babe." Ranger chuckled, then he pried my fingers out of his shirt and steered me towards the truck.

"Hey, where's your car?"

"Tank dropped me off. All we have is the truck."

"Sneaky." I scowled at him, but secretly I was glad. Ranger's company had helped me move into denial land, just a little, and that made it hurt just a little less. So did his offer to beat on Morelli, but I didn't want him hurt. Yet. We climbed into the truck and Ranger peeled out of the parking lot.

"I'll be sleeping on your couch, right?" I looked over at Ranger.

He shrugged one shoulder. "My home is your castle. You can sleep wherever you want."

I silently wondered if wherever I wanted was defined as bed or couch, or if it could also be made more specific. Like, could I sleep on top of Ranger?

"Only if you want to wind up underneath me."


	21. Chapter 21

Thanks, Stace :)

**

* * *

Chapter 21**

"Where's Salem?" I asked a week or so later as Windy and a groom walked towards me leading Danny and a bay horse I'd never seen before.

"You get a new mount today. This is Shakespeare."

Shakespeare looked like a really nice horse, but he wasn't Salem. And I'd only just gotten comfortable with Salem. I wasn't ready to give him up. "Why can't I ride Salem?"

"I thought you wanted to ride racehorses." Windy told me, holding the reins out for me to take. "Shakespeare's a nice horse. He's five, experienced, an allowance horse and relatively easy to gallop. He's perfect for you to start out on. He's just coming off of an injury, so he has to take it easy and start back slowly."

That sounded ok, I thought, except that Shakespeare didn't seem to agree on the easy part. He snapped his teeth around the bit and shook his head, before tugging on the reins and taking a step towards the barn door.

"Easy." Windy told him as she led Danny past.

"Can't I at least have the western saddle?" I had ridden in the scrap of leather Windy called a flat saddle three times now. It was aptly named, I admitted, as I eyed it on top of Shakespeare's back. It was flatter than the pancakes I had tried to make one time when I was still married to Dickie. And that was a pretty big feat; I hadn't thought _anything_ could be flatter.

"Nope. Racehorses go in flat saddles." Windy informed me as she led the way out of the barn. "I wouldn't put you on him if I didn't think you could handle him."

That was a laugh. I couldn't handle the two-legged men in my life, as was evident by Joe's...cheating...2 weeks ago, so how on earth was I supposed to stay on the back of this hot-blooded creature?

"Have a little faith in yourself already." Windy rolled her eyes before handing Danny off to a groom and checking Shakespeare's girth. "C'mon. I'll leg you up."

This was something I was actually good at. Once I got the timing right, getting legged up onto the horse was actually an almost graceful process. Unfortunately, though, Shakespeare was walking off before I was even truly sitting on his back. "Omigod." I squeaked, grabbing his mane as tight as I could and squeezing with my legs to stay on. Shakespeare bounced a bit, and Windy glanced back.

"Relax, sit up, get yourself together. Don't worry about Shakespeare, I've got him."

"Salem didn't move when I got on." I pointed out.

"Salem's a pony horse. The racehorses aren't used to standing still, and they aren't made to. It's no big deal, I've got the horse, so you can get yourself together."

I could deal with that. I wiggled on his back a minute to get comfortable, and then found both of my stirrups. It took a minute, but I managed to get both feet in without having to lean down and grab one and hold it while I stuck my foot into it. Good thing, too - I wasn't sure if I could stay on while he was moving, and I didn't really want to test my luck today. Then, I gathered up my reins. As soon as I had a feel of his mouth, Windy let him go. Jake legged her up on Danny, and by the time Shakespeare had taken me - because he was truly the one in control - to the gap onto the track, they were right behind us.

"You're the driver, not him. And relax, I rode him yesterday and he was fine." She told me, and urged Danny into a trot. I took a deep breath, then I squeezed Shakespeare and he followed suit. I'd really started to get the hang of the posting rhythm, and I found it even easier on Shakespeare. His trot was different from Salem's. It felt bigger, and faster, and while it was powerful, it was also smoother. I tried to focus on everything I had to remember - heels down, eyes up, where were my hands? Don't let them get tangled in the mane... Shoulders a bit forward, but not too forward... I couldn't remember everything, anymore. Shakespeare was also narrower than Salem. I thought maybe I liked that better.

Before I knew it, we were halfway around the track and Windy was asking Danny to canter. I took a breath and steeled myself. "Alright, Big S. Don't go too fast, ok?" I asked, as I carefully moved one leg back a few inches, the signal that asked him to canter. He was already thinking about it, and he surged forward immediately. I struggled to stay with him, and then, all of a sudden, he was ducking back underneath me as I lost my balance to one side. He swung himself over and caught me without missing a step, and then continued to canter, right behind Danny.

I could see why Windy loved riding the racehorses. More and more every day. There was something about this that was soothing. Peaceful. Almost hypnotic. It was early and brisk, and the track was silent except for the sounds of our horses cantering footfalls, and the snorting breaths that accompanied each stride.

We came around past the oval, side by side with Shakespeare on the rail. I couldn't help feeling a surge of pride as I realized that I was managing to stay standing in the stirrups way easier every day - so easily today that I hadn't even struggled yet. Windy picked up the pace, and Shakespeare followed suit before I could even ask. Probably a good thing, since I wasn't quite sure I was ready for faster.

"We're going to pick up the pace a bit more." Windy said, pretty well as soon as I was comfortable with the new, faster canter. And then we were galloping - a real, four beat gallop that I'd ridden on Salem once. I was proud that I could even tell the difference. And more than that, I realized, Shakespeare was smoother, more powerful than Salem, and he carried me with him as if I was a feather. I'd never felt like a feather before. I'd never felt this graceful before. And I did, and all I had to do was hang on and stay right side up, and he took care of the rest. I could feel his muscles moving underneath me, rippling with fluid power. It felt like Ranger...pressed against my...better not go there, Stephanie. Focus on the horse.

Our horses stayed side by side, and I listened to Windy as she walked me through changing the rein pressure, asking Shakespeare to take hold of the bit. The amazing thing was, it felt easy, and it worked, and we were just...there, and it was magic. I couldn't even think of a way to describe it. Shakespeare turned his head slightly and looked at Danny for a minute. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Danny make a face at Shakespeare. The next thing I knew, Shakespeare surged forward on his own, into a much more powerful gallop, pulling completely ahead of Danny in two strides. I asked him to settle, and he did, but he didn't slow - instead, he just stayed at the faster gallop, with Danny behind him. I was pretty sure Windy was holding Danny in, but that was ok with me.

We came around past the gap again, and I started to pull him in.

"Keep going - we'll finish at the end of the straightaway." Windy hollered. That was fine by me - I was no where near ready to get off. We galloped down to the end of the track, pulling the horses in when it started to curve. It took me longer to pull Shakespeare in than it took Windy with Danny - but I was still getting the hang of the stopping part.

"This horse is AWESOME." I told her, as we trotted back towards the gate together. I gave Shakespeare a hearty pat on the neck, and he shook his whole head and neck in agreement with me.

"I thought you'd like him." She laughed. We were walking as we exited the track, and I rode forward to where Ranger was standing. I could feel my grin splitting my face as I swung off of Shakespeare's back. I landed hard on my feet and pain shot through my ankles, but I barely noticed. My grin got even bigger as I turned and faced Ranger. He looked down at me, his eyes dark and bright, filled with what looked like a mixture of amusement and lust...It was hard to tell, though, because it was over shone by pride. I'd never had someone look at me that way. Ever. Impulsively, I threw my arms around him and gave him a hard, quick kiss, before turning and flinging my arms around Shakespeare, burying my face in his neck.

"This horse is amazing. He's incredible. He's freaking phenomenal. I want him." I said into his neck. Jake laughed as he took the horse, and handed him over to a groom.

"I'll keep that in mind for his retirement." He told me. "In the meantime, enjoy riding him."

Deprived of the horse, I turned back to Ranger, my face aching from the grin that wouldn't go away. He chuckled and slung an arm around my shoulder. "Come on, Jack-O-Lantern. Let's go home and get you showered. You smell like wet horse."

* * *

Murphy hated me, and even though my day started terrific, it just didn't get to end that way. Ranger and I pulled up to the Bonds office, only to find that scum had managed to slink in. It manifested itself in the form of Morelli, slouched on the couch, obviously waiting for me. Fucker.

"Cupcake, I've been trying to get a hold of you for days."

"And I swore you off a week, two days, and ten hours ago." I snarled. "Leave me alone." I shoved past him and went to the counter. "Got any files, Con?" Connie shook her head, but didn't interrupt as Joe continued.

"Steph, be reasonable."

"Reasonable? Go screw Malibu Barbie, why don't you." I headed towards the door. I wasn't staying with this asshole one more second.

"Look, Steph, I just want to talk to you, let me explain." Explain? I stopped and spun.

"Explain? I don't need your excuses, Morelli. You're scum. And don't come back - you're not welcome."

"And he's faithful?" Joe pointed at Ranger. "Didn't take you long to fall into his bed, did it?"

"I'm not IN his bed." I growled.

"Yeah right."

"Unfortunately, she's telling the truth. And if you talk to her like that again..." Ranger left the warning hang.

Morelli held up his hands. "Ok, Ok. Look, Steph, I just wanted to... I didn't want you to find out like that."

"Right. You'd have much rather I walked in on you doing the nasty." I snarled, focusing in on him. I wondered if I could kill him and get away with it.

"No! Geez, Cupcake. I told you we had to talk."

"Right, so this is my fault? I don't need you, Morelli. Not anymore." And then an evil idea came to my mind, and I couldn't help the foolish grin that crossed my face. "Besides. I have a new man, and he's way better than you'll ever be."

"Manoso?" Joe asked, his voice laced with disbelief, at the same time as Ranger said, "Who?"

"William." I gave a dreamy sigh, while I chuckled inwardly. This was gonna be good.

"Who's William?" Both men asked. I looked at Ranger, who was regarding me with one eyebrow raised.

"You know. William. William S." I exaggerated the S, and Ranger's eyes crinkled with laughter as he got it.

"Remind me to give you the talk about unhealthy patterns." He shook his head, and then grinned at me. "And personally, I prefer Sandburg."

"She calls you William?" Joe asked.

"No, you asshole. I met William in the last ten hours. He's the love of my life." I couldn't help the next dreamy sigh. It was hard to remember that I was mad when I was reliving my ride on Shakespeare.

Joe sighed. "Well, I guess..."

"I guess you can go now." I put both hands out and pushed against his chest, shoving him backwards until he was out the Bonds office door. The last thing I heard out of him was a disbelieving, "But Cupcake!"

"You been holding out on me, girl?" Lula asked as soon as the door was closed. Ranger was eyeing me with distinct appreciation, and Lula looked rather miffed. "Who the hell is William?"

I grinned at her. "A victory sonnet." I couldn't resist using Shakespeare's race name, Victory Sonnet, as Windy had told me while we were trotting them home after their work.

Lula gaped. "A what?"

"Oh man, you wouldn't believe it. I met him this morning, and he's the most amazing ride. The way his muscles bunched and moved underneath me...It was the most amazing thing..."

I smiled another dreamy smile, that was interrupted as Ranger's arm snaked around my stomach, pulling me back into him. "As amazing as mine?" He whispered, his breath hot on my ear.

"Mmmm... I don't know. Yours have never moved underneath me." I told him, the scent of Ranger and Bulgari fogging my brain and making me almost - almost forget the new love in my life.

"We could try." He suggested, and Lula made an eeping noise.

"Girl, you better ditch this William and ride Batman's muscles. Cause no girl in their right mind would decline that invitation."

"No kidding." Connie chimed in. "And then we want details!"

"You can have details about the horse." Ranger informed them. "The rest is classified info."

"Horse? William's a HORSE?!" Lula roared.

"Name's Shakespeare. Gotta go!" I ducked out of the office, Ranger chuckling as he followed.

* * *

She felt him before she heard him, as she wrapped one of Judge's front legs. She couldn't stop the squishy feeling that grew in the base of her stomach, or the sudden elevation of her heartbeat. If she were a horse, the change in heart rate would have worried her.

"Hey Beautiful, good morning?" Lester's voice, warm and amused, filtered in from behind her. She finished the wrap, checked it, and stood before turning to face him.

"Who let you on the backside?" She asked, then mentally slapped herself across the face. Way to go, Windy, that's totally the thing to say to a guy you've got the hots for.

Unfazed, Lester simply shot her one of his dead sexy, lopsided grins. "I'm a Range-man. With Ranger showing up every morning, it was easy to get on."

"Oh." Yup, that was her, Miss Eloquence. She wasn't even sure why she did have the hots for him, or let herself, for that matter. Best she could tell, Lester was a heartbreaker. Nevermind that, she just plain didn't LET herself get attracted to guys.

"It's about time you start." Jake laughed, slapping her on the shoulder as he walked past. He'd gotten good at reading her mind. Too many years, she supposed. "Poultices on Judge?"

"He worked pretty hard today, don't you agree?" She turned to Jake, and more comfortable territory. At least horses were easy.

"He did. Don't know what I'd do without you." He commented, then headed off into the stall that was his office. "I'll see you tomorrow." He called back to her.

"Bright and early." She agreed.

"That mean you're done for the day?" Lester asked, and she could stop the small smile that curved her lips.

"Yeah. Just gotta put Judge away."

"Judge, huh?"

"Judgement Day. Poor bastard. Next thing you know, they'll be naming his sons after the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. That'll be a sure fire winner." She rolled her eyes, then laughed. "Poor bastard." She repeated as she turned back after putting him in his stall. He offered her another lopsided grin, and her laugh turned into a giggle. Geez, Emily, get a frigging hold of yourself, she chided.

"So what are you doing now? Need help with any skips?" Lester asked her, snaked an arm around her waist and pulling her towards him, then heading towards the end of the shedrow.

"I'm going home to shower." She pointed out. "And then, I don't know. I'll have to see what's available at the Office."

"I'm off today." He pointed out unnecessarily.

"And?"

"I'm offering you my services." He paused, then turned to her and waggled one eyebrow. "Whatever services you require."

She couldn't stop the laugh from bubbling up in her throat anymore than she could stop the heat pooling in her stomach. "Dream on, Santos."

"Believe me, I will." He tugged her closer and stole a kiss. Her body melted and her mind went fuzzy, and she couldn't help the bemused expression she was sure came across her face.

And she wasn't entirely sure she liked it. Well, she liked it, but she didn't think she trusted it. Giving her head a sharp shake, she turned and yelled down the shedrow. "Alyse, get a move on! We've gotta go!"

"Coming!" The young girl's voice rang out, and then she was jogging down the shedrow towards them. "You know, I think I preferred it when I didn't go to school." She commented as she skidded to a walk beside them, her voice slightly breathy.

Lester winked at Windy and laughed as he reached behind her and tugged on Alyse's ponytail. "Spoken like a true teenager."

* * *

"I can't believe you let Morelli think William was a guy." Ranger said as he stopped at a red light. Ranger volunteering conversation while he drove was so abnormal that it stunned me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, well, I had to say something. And I thought it was kind of smart." I shrugged. Mostly, I didn't feel like hearing about how Morelli was my last hope at any kind of normal life. And I wanted to give the asshole a taste of his own medicine. The "there's someone out there better than you" pill. Even if that someone out there was a horse. Maybe it was childish…well, definitely it was childish, but… "Anyhow," I added, "I can't believe you helped me egg them on about it."

"The look on Lula's face was worth it." Ranger chuckled. "And I've learned not to bother trying to dissuade you, when you think of something. What are your plans for the day?"

"Sleep? I don't know. I don't have any new skips." And I didn't want to go home for lunch and listen to my mother. Supper two nights before was painful enough. Apparently I was supposed to overlook Joe's cheating, and marry him anyhow. And, if I wanted to keep him in MY bed, I apparently had to get more educated in sexual wiles, and get a new job so that I spent more time at home, waiting for him, so he could take me to bed.

"Babe. I smell something burning."

I sighed. Of course he would.

"If you want to come back to Rangeman, I've some searches you can run. And you should do some research on 'The Commanders'."

"Who're they?"

"An organization I think Carson is associated with. And I think it might be a front for more hidden activities. Your skip is starting to look like he's the front and centre on a case I'm working on. I'm suggesting we work together on this."

Whenever Joe said that, it mostly meant I tell him everything I learned, and he told me nothing. With Ranger, it was mostly a real partnership. Unless he thought he had to keep me safe. "Ok." I agreed.

And besides, maybe I could go upstairs for a while when the girls got back from school, and help Ella and Izzy make cookies, or muffins, or whatever it was they were baking today. It always meant taste testing, after all.

* * *

"I know it's not much, but it's home." Windy commented as she came to sit in the living room, curling up in the chair across from Lester. Woleska immediately abandoned Lester to come crawl into her lap. Didn't matter that he was too bloody big. Alyse had ducked into the bathroom for her turn in the shower as soon as Windy had vacated it, leaving her alone with Lester, for the moment. "What?" She asked, as Lester's eyes stayed, unmoving, in her hair.

"You should leave your hair down, sometime."

"Braids are simple. Avoids a mess."

His eyes shifted then, until they connected with hers, his heated gaze searing a hole straight to her soul. Even though they were seated on two totally separate pieces of furniture, it felt as if his body were pressed against hers, shoulders to ankles, as if he was trying to seduce her. Briefly, she wondered if he could really do that, with just his eyes, and then she decided she'd just break eye contact and end it. Except...she couldn't.

"Bastard." She said, without heat. A twinkle came into his eye and he flashed her his lopsided grin.

The shower quit, and Alyse came barging out a few short minutes later. "I'll drive you both, and drop you off later." Lester suggested, and she shrugged. Sure, why not. The drive to drop Alyse off at school passed quickly and quietly - Lester drove a lot like Ranger, silent and attentive, and ever so competent. Ignoring the road, she let her thoughts wander, and wondered if she was biting off more than she could chew. She might be getting into trouble, getting involved with this one. He was too smooth, too sexy, and too self-assured in his sexiness. Or something like that. She wondered if he could just snap his fingers and have any woman at his beck and call, and she wondered how many more he'd had, and how quickly he got tired of them. She didn't think she had the makeup for a one night stand, and she was far too in danger of losing her heart. She'd gone soft, she guessed. After years of hardening herself, and maintaining an abrasive front, she was realizing that it really was just that; a front. She'd always figured that if she put it on display enough, it would simply become the truth, but all it took was this man to drop that notion from her mind. It's really too bad Ranger's men weren't like the guys at the track - it was easier to stay abrasive when you're dealing with assholes.

"Off you get." Lester was saying as they pulled up to the school. "Someone will be by for you and Isabelle at 3:30."

Alyse rolled her eyes. "Yeah. As always. You know, people think we're mob daughters, getting into all of these fancy black vehicles."

"Yeah, well, it's safer than the bus, and Ranger's decided you're getting rides." Windy said.

"And when Ranger decides something, that's the way it'll be." Lester added.

"Send Tank. He's Izzy's favorite."

"If he's available, I'm sure he'll come." Lester said, as Alyse shut the door. She headed towards the school, then turned back to give them a quick wave.

"She's adjusting well." Windy commented.

"For now. I think she likes not having the full responsibility of her sister on her shoulders, anymore."

"She needs to be a kid." She shrugged, and they drove in silence to the bonds office.

"Anything?" Lester asked as she slid back into the Explorer after stopping in to see Connie.

"Nope."

"So we both have days off." He turned to face her, and a slow grin spread across his features, his eyes crinkling boyishly. Against her will, again, she melted. "How about we go do something fun?"

"Like what?"

"A surprise."

She couldn't help the funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. There was definitely a healthy dose of fear, she thought... Surprises, in her life, had never been good. But at the same time, a squishy, warm feeling that she wasn't used to, and one of anticipation.

"Ok." She nodded. "BUT-" She added before Lester could flash his grin and melt her again, "It has to be fun, and our clothes stay on."

He chuckled. "Sweetheart, you can wear as many clothes as you want."


End file.
